Alright, This Is Great
by Akatsuki's a bang
Summary: That's right - Lauren, Taylor and Tess are back once again, but this time - besides relocating into the Naruto world - little munchkins will be running around! So, with the girls having kids of their own and the threat of Kabuto, Tobi, and god knows what still lurking about, who knows what will happen? 3 OC warning. Sequel to "Well, It's Not So Bad" and "Ugh, Why Me".
1. I'm Pregnant!

**Lauren's POV**

_"Sit up – let's see if anything's wrong."_

_Taylor complied and heaved herself up, sitting on the edge of the couch. Sasori then got to work and placed a glowing green ha__n__d on her forehead. After a moment his eyebrows furrowed._

_"What is it?" I questioned, concerned for my friend, but the puppet master didn't answer – instead he took his hand off her forehead and placed it above her chest, soon moving it lower to her abdomen. When Sasori scanned his hand over Taylor's lower abdomen however, he froze and leaned back slightly, eyes wide in shock._

_Taylor immediately looked worried._

_"Oh shit, am I dying? Should I have gone to the hospital?"_

_Sasori slowly shook his head and removed his hand from her stomach, looking her directly in the eye._

_"Taylor, you're not ill…you're pregnant."_

_"Wha…I…I'M PREGNANT?!"_

For a good minute the house sat in silence, all of us shocked at the sudden news.

"Oh my god," Taylor finally sighed, looking faint as she placed a hand on her abdomen where Sasori's previously had been. "Oh my god, I can't believe it…"

"I can't believe it either," I said slowly along with her, glacing up from the ground. "You and Itachi fucked…goddamn…"

"Lauren!" Taylor shouted at me, grabbing the pillow on the couch beside her. I easily dodged it as she chucked it at my head and started laughing.

"This is serious!" She hissed, and I could see the tears pooling in her eyes. It made me feel a bit bad that she was taking it in such a way, but…

"Taylor!" I responded and kneeled in front of her, taking her face into my hands. The blonde looked almost ready to cry, her bottom lips beginning to wiggle. "This is _amazing_," I told her seriously, but Taylor shook her head, voice cracking as she responded.

"No, it's…"

"It's a blessing," I tried again, bringing our foreheads together in an attempt to calm her. "Having a child is a blessing."

Taylor closed her eyes as tears started to stream down her cheeks. "I know – but Itachi – he – we-"

"I can't believe you're worried about Itachi at a time like this!" I told with a small laugh, pulling back to wipe her tears with my thumbs. Taylor opened her hazel eyes, questioningly searching mine.

"All Itachi wants is for you to be happy." I continued, shaking her face a bit as a genuine smile made its way onto my lips. "And this child will be a blessing to both you and him both. He's wanted nothing more than to have a family to come home to, and yet you're getting so worried because this wasn't planned. When he finds out he's going to be the happiest man alive!"

Taylor sniffed and pulled back from me, wiping the remainder of her tears. She was quiet for a moment, her eyes scanning the couch below her before she quietly spoke up.

"…do you really think that he'll be happy?"

Laughing, I lunged forward and gave her a giant hug, which she finally responded to.

"Of course he'll be happy!"

Finally, after the two of us hugged it out for another minute, Taylor pulled back and glanced to the side with a small pout.

"Does this mean I have to go to the hospital?"

Behind us Sasori chuckled slightly, rubbing a hand down the side of his face.

"Yes, you should go to the hospital, Taylor."

"But I don't wanna~!" She whined, rolling to the other end to the couch away from me. Sighing, with a small smirk I glanced back at the red head. He understood my intent immediately and rolled his eyes, crossing his arms agitatedly despite his slight smile.

"If you are so against going to the hospital than how about we go to Tsunade directly?" He suggested, and at the end of the couch Taylor paused in kicking her feet like a little brat. In one swift motion she sat up and looked to Sasori with wide brown eyes.

"You mean it? You're not gonna trick me into going to the hospital."

The puppet master rolled his eyes again, mumbling, "I don't know if I could…"

Grinning happily, Taylor then sprung up from the couch and gave me a swift hug before disappearing into the hallway with a call of, "I'll be back down in a minute."

I waited for a minute until the sound of Taylor climbing the stairs up the second floor had stopped before springing up from my spot on the couch and jumping into Sasori's waiting arms. He expected it anyway, because he quickly chuckled and spun in a circle from the momentum, setting me on the ground a moment later.

"I'm so excited!" I exclaimed into his shoulder as he absently hugged me back. "This is so amazing!"

"Yes, this is quite the development," he mused and I pulled back, smacking him in the arm lightly.

"Oh don't even give me that," I said, pointing a finger in his face. "You're fucking happy."

"I never said I wasn't," he responded, raising his eyebrow in amusement. I just squealed and hugged Danna once again, evoking another chuckled from him.

A minute later Taylor emerged back into the family room with a thick gray coat adorning her torso, the Uchiha crest clearly present on the breast plate, and a pair of tall boots.

"It's not winter," I told her in a deadpan, but she brushed off my comment with a wave of her hand.

"Whatever, you guys ready?"

Nodding, Sasori and I trailed after the blonde as she opened the front door and stepped out into the cool evening air. I shut the door once we were all out of the house and the three of us then started towards the main part of the leaf village.

As we went along I could tell that Taylor was still taking in all of _this_, her smile wavering at times, but I couldn't blame her. We'd only lived in this world for two months at this point and were currently just training for the Chuunin exams, which would be taking place in a month or two. With her now being diagnosed as pregnant, I doubted her participation in the event, but didn't want to assume anything at this point. Not even that, but at the moment the Chuunin exams were probably the least of her worries. Knowing Taylor, at this point she was stressing out more about how she'd tell Itachi the news.

I'd talk with her more about it later.

After about 15 more minutes of walking Sasori, Taylor and I approached the Hokage's mansion, but were automatically stopped by the guards at the gate.

"Halt," said a ninja I'd never seen before. He scanned the three of us over quizzically, his eyes lingering on Sasori a bit longer than normal.

Despite the announcement of the Akatsuki being disband and most of the ninja being accepted back into society as full-fledged shinobi, many locals were still skeptical of the previous criminals – which was to be expected.

"State your business," he finally said, and I reached into my pocket, pulling out my Konoha headband. Even though I wasn't on a mission I still carried it around with me anywhere, just in case.

"We need to speak with Tsunade-sama."

The ninja looked just about ready to send us away, before I added, "please, it's very important."

With a quiet sigh the shinobi finally stepped aside and the three of us passed through the gates onto the Hokage's property.

We ascended the stairs of the giant red house and then trailed down the halls towards Tsunade's office. As we got closer I could tell Taylor was being to get nervous again, and placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. She weakly smiled back at me.

Just as we rounded the corner, Shizune emerged from Tsunade's office, a stack of papers in her hands.

"Oh, hello," she said in surprise when noticing us. "If you're here to talk to Tsunade I'd suggest you don't unless it's very important." She continued, while shuffling past us. "She's pretty stressed out at the moment."

"Noted," I replied simply, and once she was out of sight I reached my hand forward and raped my hand against the wooden door.

"Come in!" A voice angrily yelled on the other side, and I twisted the handle stepping inside. Taylor and Sasori both followed me in.

Behind the desk filled with multiple stacks of paper was Tsunade, her normal sake bottle and dish nowhere in sight. When Sasori clicked the door shut she snapped her head up at us, brown eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Is there a reason you've chosen to visit me at a time like this?" she questioned angrily, and I pulled Taylor up next to me.

"Taylor has a favor to ask." I stated briefly, looking over to the blonde, and Tsunade lowered her fist onto the desk, leaning forward impatiently.

"I, um," Taylor staggered, and I could tell Tsunade was about ready to snap at her when sudden her eyes widened, attitude changing drastically. Glancing over, I noticed that Taylor had placed a hand on her abdomen once again, and that must've been enough for Tsunade to be able to understand.

"Taylor…," she said slowly, looking the said teenage girl in the eyes, and Taylor nodded, a smile sneaking its way onto her lips. Tsunade suddenly stood from her seat and stomped up to the Uzumaki, hugging her tightly as a large grin overtook her lips.

"Congratulations," she said wholeheartedly and Taylor blushed.

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama," she mumbled embarrassedly, and Tsunade laughed, clasping a hand on her shoulder.

"So, I know you didn't just come here to tell me the news, did you?"

Taylor shook her head, looking back up at the voluptuous lady.

"No, I've been having pretty bad morning sickness for the last few days—"

"And she refuses to go to the hospital," I added in, which landed me a smack in the head from Sasori.

"—so I was wondering if you could just make sure everything was okay…"

Tsunade nodded considerately and knelt down in front of the younger blonde, placing her hand on Taylor's lower abdomen. It soon started to glow green and the Hokage closed her eyes in concentration.

"As far as I can tell you're only about 3 weeks pregnant at this point, and everything looks good," she said, and Taylor sighed with relief. "Concerning the morning sickness you've been having I can prescribe you some pills, but you'll have to go to the hospital to pick them up."

"Hai, thank you so much, Tsunade-sama," Taylor said, bowing deeply, and the Hokage merely chuckled at her.

"No problem – now run along."

"Hai!" she responded happily, and turned towards the door. Sasori opened it for her and Taylor thanked him while skipping to the hallway, the puppet master immediately following after. I hung back for a minute as Tsunade slid back into her chair behind the desk.

"I promise I won't speak of it to anyone," she said after a moment, pulling out a pen and paper from her desk drawer as I approached. "And here is Taylor's prescription," she added in, handing the note she had just scribbled out. With a small smile I bowed to her.

"Arigatou gozaimasu," I responded, bowing to her. Tsunade only reached across the large desk and ruffled my hair.

"You're a very good friend."

I laughed slightly and walked over to an open window, scooting my body into the frame. "Taylor's still in shock at the moment, and I have nothing else to do so…"

With that I stepped onto the tiled roof and propelled myself towards the leaf village hospital, Taylor's prescription in my hand. This was the least I could do for her right now. I owed her for the rest of my life for saving me from Orochimaru anyway.

* * *

**Taylor's POV**

After talking with Tsunade I exited the Hokage Mansion with Sasori and Lauren. There was too much going through my head at the moment – so much; in fact, that I didn't notice Lauren wasn't with us until we had passed into back into the Uchiha district.

"Lauren went to get your prescription for you," Sasori explained before I could get the chance to ask, and I found myself smiling at her considerateness.

A minute later when Sasori and I came to a crossroad, I was surprised when he continued walking along with me.

"Sasori," I said, pausing to point in the other direction. "Your house is that way right?"

"Yes," Sasori nodded, "that is the way to my house."

I rolled my eyes at his hidden sarcasm. "Then go that way – you don't have to walk me home."

Sasori stared at me blatantly. "You think that brat is gonna let me get away with that?"

I laughed and stepped forward, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You're fine – go on home."

The puppet master grinned slightly. "Well then," he said, "I'll leave you with this."

Sasori suddenly grabbed my wrist and pulled me into a brief hug. "Congrats," he said quietly, pulling back to give me a sentimental smirk. "I'm glad I could be there with you today."

I stared at the puppet master in utter shock, not having expected such a reaction from him. "Don't even make me cry again!" I yelled as I spun around and started stomped towards Itachi and I's house. I could hear him chuckle from behind me and glanced back to see him spilt off down the other path, so I quickly yelled, "Bye Sasori!" which he responded to with a silent wave of his hand.

A couple minute later, just as the land was beginning to be overcome by the darkness of night, I stepped onto the porch of the house and slid the front door open. Immediately I slipped my shoes off and headed up stairs, grabbing Itachi's necklace off the nightstand, holding it to my chest.

I was pregnant.

I was pregnant with Itachi's child.

I was pregnant. With Itachi's child.

"Jesus," I breathed, and held the necklace tighter. I mean, yeah, Itachi and I had… "done it" a couple of times, but I had never expected this to happen. I was supposed to be participating in the Chuunin exams in a month or so…I was supposed to become a great ninja and all that!

Sighing, I grabbed a blanket off the bed and then exited the room, heading back downstairs. I traveled through the house until I emerged on the porch surrounding a small garden and pond in the middle of the enclosed yard. Seating myself on the wooden floor, I wrapped the blanket around myself and looked down at the two koi fish swimming around the pond a few feet away.

Breathing in, I took Itachi's necklace from my hand and latched it around my neck before snuggling into the blanket further. How was I supposed to tell him? I was no good at keeping secrets – so as soon as I saw another person beside him I'd want to say something, and the husband was always supposed to be the first to know.

'_Husband,' _I mused internally, thinking about the word. Itachi and I weren't even married – yet here I was, three weeks pregnant with his child. Sighing again, I suddenly blinked when a bag landed in my lap.

"Here you are madam," Lauren said jokingly, looking down at me with a grin. I rolled my eyes at her and set the back on the ground beside me, patting the deck on my other side. Lauren got the hint eased herself to the ground, allowing her legs to hang off the edge of the deck as I took part of the large blanket and threw it around her shoulder. Lauren smiled and I lovingly placed my head atop her shoulder.

"Thanks for getting me those pills," I said, and Lauren placed her head on top of mine in response.

"Don't worry about it," she said, as her body warmth soaked into the blanket. "You've head a rough day anyway."

I laughed. "Yeah…"

The two of us were silent for a minute before Lauren spoke again.

"You're thinking about how you're gonna tell Itachi, right?"

I sighed. "Yeah. You know I'm bad at keeping things a secret and Itachi's not supposed to be back for at least another day…"

"Tell you what then," Lauren said suddenly, and I pulled back to look at her. "How about we send a messenger out to tell him?"

"That'd be terrible!" I replied. "You're not supposed to tell someone you're pregnant via messenger!"

"No!" Lauren laughed. "I mean, why don't we send Itachi a message saying something like "I've got a surprise for you when you get back" or "I've got some big news to tell you", you know? Something not so discreet."

I contemplated the idea. It'd be impossible for me to keep it a secret from everyone for that long, so if I sent him a little message like that then maybe I wouldn't feel like I'd have to keep it entirely hidden. It'd be like half a weight off my chest.

"Alright," I finally agreed, and Lauren grinned.

"So what should I write?" She questioned, pulling a paper and pen out of nowhere. I immediately snatched it from her.

"Give me that!" I said, taking the pen into my hand. "I'm the pregnant one – not you – so I'll write the message!"

Lauren laughed. "Alright, alright!"

Puffing my cheeks out, I quickly scribbled down "I've got a surprise – tell you when you get back" before rolling it up.

"Done?" Lauren questioned, and I nodded. Grinning again, Lauren stood and bit her thumb, slamming her palm to the ground.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

With a puff of smoke a mid-sized dog with light brown fur emerged in the middle of the summoning circle. I blinked in surprise.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I signed a pact with Kakashi's dogs when I was training with him a few years ago," she said, glacing over at me, and then quickly knelt down in front of the dog.

"Yo, Bisuke."

The ninken looked up at Lauren and then blinked.

"Oh, if it isn't Lauren!" The dog exclaimed, padding up to her. "I haven't been summoned by you since right after Kakashi had you make the pact!"

Lauren laughed. "Yeah, it's been a while."

"So, what do you need?" The dog questioned, and Lauren motioned over to me.

"My friend needs this letter delivered to her boyfriend," she said, and I blushed, embarrassed.

"Oh?" the dog questioned, sniffing the air. Suddenly his eyes widened. "Oh, it's one of those letters!" he exclaimed and Lauren laughed again.

"That's right; I forgot you've got more heightened senses than the others…anyway, you think you can do this for me?"

"Of course," he said, and motioned back towards his blue pack. "Just put it in there somewhere and I'll get it to…"

"Itachi Uchiha," Lauren said, and the canine looked taken aback.

"You want me to take this to a wanted criminal?"

Lauren blinked in surprise. Kakashi must not have explained to his pact the changes happening yet.

"No, Itachi is no longer a nuke-nin, he's an ally to Konoha," she explained, and the dog instantly relaxed.

"Oh, well, then do you have his scent for me?"

Lauren glanced over at me, and I blinked, instantly looking down.

"I don't have any of his clothes, but I've got his necklace," I exclaimed, and the dog nodded.

"Good enough," he said, and jumped up next to me. I held up the necklace and he sniffed it for a few seconds before turning and hopping back down next to Lauren.

"Once you give him the message you're dismissed," Lauren elaborated, and Bisuke nodded. "I'll treat you to a meal at some point as your reward," she added in, and the dog laughed as he began sprinting away.

"I'll hold you to it!" he howled before disappearing out of sight, and I breathed a sigh of relief, feeling better about the message.

A moment later Lauren placed her hand on my shoulder. "It's getting late," she stated, and I nodded in agreement, allowing her to help pull me up.

"Thanks for all your help today," I told her honestly, pulling her into a hug, and Lauren hugged back tightly.

"No problem. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," I agreed, and with one last quick squeeze Lauren hoped over the fence and back towards her house. I rolled my eyes at her as I grabbed the blanket and stepped back into the vicinity. Lauren was always using her ninja powers.

With that all taken care of, I simply walked back up stairs, popped one of the pill Tsunade had prescribed me and climbed into bed, suddenly feeling exhausted. I didn't even get the chance to worry about any possibilities before sleep took over.

* * *

When I woke up the next morning light was already flooding into the room – a change compared to the last few days considering they consisted of me waking up early to throw up and feel shitty. Stretching my arms out above my head, I yawned around rolled over, glancing at the clock on my nightstand.

**9:45**

Geez, I had slept in. It must've been because of the slept I'd been ripped of the last week. However, before I could get completely lost in my thoughts I suddenly noticed a tapping sound.

Sitting up, I glanced around the room, the sound foreign to me, before a bird sitting in the windowsill caught my attention.

A raven.

My heart jumped.

Quickly, I flung the covers off and shuffled over to the window, pushing it open. The raven simply looked at me and then stood still when I noted the paper tied to its leg.

Holding my breath I quickly untied the note and then opened it up, scanning over the words on the page.

"_I'll be back this evening, I look forward to hearing it," _the note read, and I scanned over it again with wide eyes. Itachi would be back tonight, sooner than I expected.

I didn't know if that was good or bad.

* * *

"Oh, you'll be fine," Lauren said, patting me on the shoulder as she and I made our way to the gates. It was around 6 in the evening and Lauren and I had just finished eating at Ichiraku's.

I'd entrusted in the brunette earlier in the day to help keep me calm and collected until Itachi got back tonight, and she was glad to be able to help. So, for the day we cooked, and played games, and gossiped and ate until finally the sun started to turn the horizontal a dark orange - then we knew it was time.

"Yeah, I know I'll be fine, but I'm still nervous!" I hissed back at her, my heart pounding as the large wooden gates came into sight. Lauren only continued to rub soothing circles on my back as we continued to get closer and closer to the inevitable.

A minute later the two of us stood directly under the enterance to the leaf village, and I heaved a big sigh, trying to calm myself. Each minute of waiting was painstaking, but thankfully I didn't have to wait long because soon enough two silhouettes appeared in the distance.

After a couple of seconds Lauren verified with her Sharingan that it was indeed Sasuke and Itachi, and I continued taking deep breathes, trying to keep myself calm.

"You're fine," Lauren told me once again, giving me a reassuring hug. "Itachi loves you, and there's absolutely no way this is a bad thing."

"Yeah," I agreed breathlessly, and a minute later Itachi and Sasuke approached us. The two looked surprised to see us standing there, awaiting their arrival.

"Imouto, Taylor," he said, looking from Lauren to me. "Is something wrong? I didn't expect for you to be greeting us as soon as we returned…"

I glanced over at Lauren, wondering what to do, but got my answer when she suddenly grabbed Sasuke by the wrist and dragged him away with her, shushing him when he began to question her actions. The two stopped a couple feet from Itachi and I, and, drawing a final deep breath, I turned back to Itachi.

"Taylor," he said, and grabbed my hands, looking me in the eye with concern. "Is this about that letter you sent?"

I nodded, my chest constricting with worry as I continued to stare Itachi in the eyes.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me," he said after a moment, squeezing my hands reassuringly. And in that moment, with one swift burst of confidence, I opened my mouth.

"Itachi, I'm pregnant…!"

* * *

**AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!**

**I'M BACK :D IT'S BACK. WE'RE BACK.**

**YESSSS.**

**Like, literally I finished up my homework for the weekend and had the inspiration to write this first chapter. I don't have the long term story line planned out at all yet (to be completely honest) but I know what's happening the next few chapters so that's all I really need.**

**But I'm seriously so happy though! And I hope you guys are too! :D**

**Hopefully, I've still got a fair amount of people carrying onto this final part of the saga, because I really love all you guys *hug* You're what inspire me to continue writing through tough times.**

**Tough times, you say? Well yes, besides school, my father recently passes away after battling brain cancer for 20 months. Sad, yes - but I'm doing pretty good, so don't worry too much! lol**

**Anyway, I don't really have much more to say! I hope you guys are sticking around and are just as excited as me!**

**See you next time!**

**Oh oh oh! And if anyone wants to make fanart or anything than I'll definitely consider using it as the cover photo for the story! If not, then I'll just have to find a good picture :P**

**PLEASE REVIEW :D**


	2. Never a Better Time

**Lauren's POV**

"What's this all about?" Sasuke questioned after I had dragged him away from Itachi and Taylor. We both now stood on the sidelines, watching as Itachi gently took Taylor's hands into his own.

"Shush!" I hissed back at him, and at my serious tone Sasuke shut up, eyes shifting to the conversation playing out before us. The two of us couldn't hear much from the distance we were at, but as soon as Taylor gained the confidence boost she needed the "Itachi, I'm pregnant!" was very clear.

At the edge of my vision I could see Sasuke's eyes widen drastically, his jaw slackening, but I couldn't take the time to laugh at him. Itachi's response was my main concern.

The raven haired Uchiha looked absolutely stunned. He had frozen stiff, eyes unusually large. After nearly 10 seconds of silence I shifted my eyes over to Taylor and could tell she was about ready to break down into tears, most likely thinking that Itachi was truly unhappy at the news. However, before any tears could leak from her eyes Itachi brought his hands up to either side of her face, swiftly and forcefully bringing their lips together.

Taylor's eyes widened in shock but she wasted little time before taking her own arms and swinging them around Itachi's neck, responding to the kiss vigorously. After a moment the two pulled back and Itachi didn't give her any time to think before looping his arms around her tiny frame, lifting her into the air. When he set her back down I don't think I'd ever seen a bigger smile on his face.

"You're pregnant!" He finally spoke, voice filled with joy as he took Taylor's hands into his own once again. Despite her efforts at keeping her tears back, with a large grin the droplets of water started to stain her cheeks as she nodded, reaffirming it once again.

Finally I took a moment to look over at Sasuke, surprised to find that he was still frozen in complete shock. Laughing, I punched him in the arm, his head snapping towards me as he broke free of his trance.

"You're gonna be an uncle!" It told him, shaking his arm happily, and the Uchiha finally cracked, a smile stretching onto his lips. Before I knew it he was hugging me tightly and I responded just as enthusiastically. However, before the happiness could get too far out of hand, the sound of Taylor intaking a sharp breath made me pause.

Moving out of Sasuke's grasp, I glanced back over at the blonde and nearly dropped dead at the sight.

Taylor stood, hand shakily covering her mouth as tears continued to stream from her wide eyes. Itachi was knelt on one knee in front of her, hand digging in his pocket as he fondly started to speak.

"Taylor," he said, smile gracing both his face and eyes as he removed his hand from his pocket, red velvet box in his fingertips. "I didn't plan on doing this now, but I don't feel like there will ever be a better time…"

Hurriedly I glanced over at Sasuke, only to find him standing there next to me with his arms crossed, a smug, knowingly smirk on his face.

"Taylor Mina Namikaze," Itachi started again, releasing Taylor's hand in order to flip open the small box, revealing the diamond ring inside. "There is absolutely no other woman I would ever hope to spend my life with then you. You bring me so much joy everyday and I hope to be there for you until the end of time. So… would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Despite still shaking, Taylor nodded furiously, happily, and Itachi stood, spinning the blonde in his arms once again. After a moment he set her back down and took her hand, sliding the ring onto her fourth finger, causing her to cry once again. He didn't seem to mind though, only enveloping her in a hug as she cried to her heart's content.

This time I was to one in shock, for Sasuke bumped his hip against mine, devilish smirk still present as I glanced over at him. The rush of emotion and happiness for the two of them suddenly overwhelming me, I lunged at my brother and he easily caught me, hugging me back as tears started to well in my eyes. A moment later when Sasuke noticed I was crying he simply chuckled at me, but did nothing more than hold me ever tighter than before, because just like me he understood. He understood the happiness I felt for both Itachi and Taylor. And oh god was I happy.

* * *

Later on that night I stepped onto the landing of my house, shivering slightly as a cold gust of night air brushed against the parts of my bare skin. I'd previously just been as Sasuke's house, chatting with him about the events that had transpired the last few hours.

"_I don't understand why nii-san wouldn't have known Taylor was pregnant before the two of you left for your mission," I said glancing over at him, taking a sip from the tea in my hands. Sasuke dipped his head considerately as he crossed his legs, relaxing into his own seat._

"_With Itachi being so relaxed in his own home nowadays, I doubt he'd activate his Sharingan at all. So it's easy to see why he didn't sense it right away…"_

_I nodded. "I guess I can understand that…and Taylor told me she didn't start getting morning sickness till the day after you two left, so there really were no signs…but what was that you were saying earlier about the mission?"_

_Across from me, Sasuke closed his eyes, shaking his head slightly as a grin spread across his face. _

"_Our mission was supposed to be over two days ago," he admitted truthfully, and I blinked in surprise. However, before I could question why Sasuke quickly continued._

"_But the time allotted for the mission was 10 days, which today is, so Itachi decided to take the last two in order to search for an engagement ring."_

_I balanced my teacup in one hand, holding the other to my heart as I tried to hold back awing verbally. Itachi was a complete romantic – he adored Taylor and would do anything to make her happy. It was just so adorable._

"_Anyway," Sasuke continued, rolling his eyes when he caught sight of my slight fangirling. "Itachi wasn't planning to propose until after the Chunnin exams were over so not to distract Taylor from her training and everything else, but with the new development of her being pregnant, there really was no point in waiting."_

"_That's right, because I doubt Taylor will be able to participate now…," I thought aloud, and Sasuke nodded in agreement. _

"_I'm sure Itachi will be even more protective of her from now on," he said, running a hand through his messy hair. "Meaning that the dangerous exams are definitely not an option anymore."_

_I laughed slightly, standing up from my chair. Swiftly I moved from the family room and into the kitchen, placing my teacup into the sink. Sasuke silently followed after me, leaning in the doorframe as I filled the cup with water for sake that it wouldn't be nasty later on._

"_Well, I guess after being gone for a week you're probably looking forward to your own shower and bed," I said, glancing back at him with a smirk, and Sasuke responded with one of his own. Pushing himself up from the frame, he walked over to me and placed his hand on my head._

"_Need a jacket for the walk home?"_

"_I literally live four houses away, you idiot," I replied, smacking his hand away, and Sasuke laughed. Briefly hugging him, I skipped over to the landing and slipped my shoes on, pulling the door open._

"_See you tomorrow," he said from behind me, and I stepped out into the cool fall night. _

"_Yeah," I replied, climbing down his front steps. _

"_Deidara should be back tomorrow, right?" he questioned, illuminated in the doorway of his home. I smiled at the thought of the blonde, holding my hands behind my back._

"_He should be," I responded fondly, and Sasuke rolled his eyes at me yet again. _

"_Night," he said, stepping back into the house, and I responded before he gently shut the door._

Sighing tiredly, I kicked my shoes off and walked farther into my own home. It was nearly midnight at this point and I was utterly exhausted. Maybe not so much physical exhaustion, but definitely emotional – and I wasn't even the one this all was directly happening to.

Climbing the stairs, I sulked into my room and threw my clothes off before flopping onto the bed, snuggling into the covers.

Today had been a long day, and tomorrow was going to be just as busy. Since Taylor was terrible at keeping secrets she'd already informed me that as soon as Itachi knew, she'd be telling everyone else she considered a friend.

Plus, Deidara was coming back tomorrow – hopefully. I don't know how he'd react to the news of Taylor being pregnant, but I'm sure he'd be happy and would also then whisper jokingly to me that we should make "one" too.

I smiled to myself. That blonde lovable idiot.

I couldn't wait for him to get back.

* * *

The next morning I woke up around 10:15. Since I didn't really do any missions at this point I didn't need to wake up early for any reason.

Stretching my limbs out, I yawned lazily and pushed myself up, looking out the large window at the edge of the room. The world outside was already illuminated by the rising sun, and I smiled at the sight of a nice day, kicking off the covers.

I touched my feet to the cool wooden floors and slid across the room into the hallway. After descending the stairs I walked into the kitchen and paused in front of the coffee pot before moving over to the fridge. I never drank coffee, the taste not too appealing to me, but everyday Deidara was home he'd make a pot and guzzle it down.

Shaking my head at his antics I pulled a can of pop from the fridge and headed out onto the front porch, sitting on the bench located there.

Popping the can open, I took a swig from the can and then nearly shook my head at myself. Deidara had his coffee and I had my pop, but either way both were fairly bad habits.

Sighing peacefully, I watched the birds flying overhead and took in the beauty of the Uchiha district. Truthfully, the Uchiha district was one of the most beautiful places I'd ever seen. It was like a village built around nature and the old style architecture was enticing. It felt like home, and well, it was.

"Deidara should be back today."

Blinking, I looked up to find Sasori ascended the stairs to the porch, body clad in a pair of black pants and gray shirt. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, I know you're so lost without him."

Sasori rolled his eyes and then stepped up to the bench, occupying the vacant seat beside me.

"Stop drinking these," he said, snatching the pop can away from my hand, and I automatically stole it back.

"Thanks for your opinion, Danna," I responded and Sasori exhaled, looking forward towards the street.

The two of us sat there in a comfortable silence for a couple minutes.

When I first met Sasori however many years ago he was quiet sarcastic and amused towards me, mostly because Pein had ordered everyone not to kill us. But by the end of our original stay in the Naruto world I absolutely loved him and I'm fairly sure he liked me to the point where he'd at least miss me when I was gone. When we met the second time back in our world however, with the many months of relaxation the two of us got closer and soon it was no doubt he was my friend. Nowadays, Sasori was like a brother/friend/thing. He'd come over and visit me and Deidara (when he was home) whenever he felt like it, and Deidara and I would go visit him whenever we felt like it. Most of the visits were welcome and it was like sleeping in the same room with them both again, except Deidara and I's bed was a quarter of a mile from his. At this point Sasori was just my Danna, and he was just a natural part of my life. I really didn't think about it too often, but that was how it was.

"I believe last week you mentioned to me that you had a meeting planned with Kakashi, correct?" he posed, snapping me from my thoughts, and the memory suddenly clicked within my head.

"Shit!" I hissed, hoping up from the bench, and ran into the house. Immediately I ran upstairs and ran into my room, heading through the door right beside the bed and into Deidara and I's private bathroom. Stripping my pajamas off I turned the shower on and hopped in.

The shower wasn't a leisurely one, but was refreshing all the same, and when I got out I hurriedly dried off. Following that I brushed my hair, did all my other bathroom stuff, and then headed back out into the main part of the room, not caring that I was butt naked because the door was closed.

Through the closet full of clothes I picked out a blue tank top and a pair of black cargo shorts, slipping them on over my limbs after putting on undergarments.

Pausing to take a deep breath, I calmly walked back downstairs; not at all surprised to find Sasori lounging on the couch in the living room, book in his hand.

"What time are you supposed to be meeting him?" he questioned me as I calmly walked over to the landing, pulling my shoes on.

"11:00," I responded, and Sasori raised an eyebrow at me.

"You've only got 10 minutes to get there."

I rolled my eyes at him and stood up, sliding open the front door. "I'm a ninja – I'll get there on time."

And sure enough, 10 minutes later after bounding over rooftops with chakra coated feet, I landed in front of the restaurant Kakashi and I had planned to meet at. Before heading inside I took a minute to regain my breathing pattern, not wanting to look like I'd rushed to get here – which I had.

Stepping into the restaurant I easily spotted Kakashi's spiky and he waved me over with a smile as I approached the booth.

"Morning," he said as I slid into the seat across from him, and I smiled in return.

"Of course the one day I'm running late you get here on time," I replied sarcastically, earning myself a chuckle.

Kakashi and I usually met every once and a while for drinks or food or whatever just because he was usually busy with mission and I was busy training amongst other things.

Since mending a patch with the leaf village I'd also mended the patch with Kakashi from however long ago, and the two of us now were just like we were before – teacher and student, or as Kakashi wanted me to see it rather, as older friend and younger friend.

After a minute a waitress came over and took our orders, and once she had walked away Kakashi folded his arms on the table, looking over to me with his one visible black eye.

"So, how's life been thus far?"

I laughed slightly. "Pretty good," I replied honestly. "Deidara should be back from his mission sometime today and there were a lot of interesting developments in the last two days so I mean…"

Kakashi raised both his eyebrows. "Interesting developments?"

I paused. I didn't know if Taylor was allowing me to tell other people about her engagement and pregnancy at this point…

However, timing perfect, a moment later Taylor suddenly walked into the restaurant and waved at the two of us, stepped up to the booth.

"Morning!" she said cheerfully, and Kakashi and I both smiled at her.

"So, have you told Kakashi yet?"Taylor questioned me, bumping her hip against my shoulder slyly, and I blinked in surprise.

"Am I allowed to?"

"Of course!" she replied as if it was obvious, and then turned, staring to walk away.

"I'm on my way to go let Naruto know!" she explained, hastily walking towards the door with a large grin on her face. "That way the two most important people are out of the way! I just stopped in cause I remembered you'd be here."

I laughed at her as she disappeared from the restaurant and then glanced back over to a very confused looking Kakashi.

"What did you need Taylor's permission to tell me?" he questioned hesitantly, and I placed my head into the palm of my hand as I smiled.

"Taylor's pregnant," I said, holding back my laughter as Kakashi's showing eye widened drastically. "And Itachi proposed to her yesterday."

Kakashi staggered for words, and I snickered to myself, knowing my reaction was about the same when I found out.

"Oh my god," he finally said, staring at the door Taylor had just exited from a minute ago. "She's pregnant?"

I nodded. "Yep, around three weeks in according to Tsunade."

Kakashi chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief. "And Itachi even proposed to her…"

I laughed. "Yeah, as soon as he found out he got down on one knee and posed the question. Taylor was hysterically happy."

This time Kakashi laughed, leaning back off the table the waitress placed our plates of food in front of us.

"Sounds about right… Does anyone else know?"

"Sasori and Sasuke do," I answered, munching on a bite of my pancakes. "Sasori figured it out first and Tsunade confirmed it, so she knows too. But Sasuke was there when Taylor told Itachi so…" I laughed again. "And I guess you know now too."

Kakashi finished chewing the food in his mouth before adding, "And apparently Naruto will know soon too."

I laughed, nearly choking on the food in my mouth. "Could you imagine it though?" I commented once saving myself from possible choking. "With him and Taylor being so close and Naruto just being Naruto…oh god, it'll probably be hilarious."

Kakashi took a sip of his drink, contemplating my words for a moment before setting the glass down.

"I think we should go watch."

I blinked in surprise, not having expected to hear something like that from him.

"Are you being serious right now?" I replied, a little bit excited at the idea of seeing the blondes reaction to the news of his sister being pregnant. Kakashi rolled his eyes at my apparent likeness to his proposal but called the waitress over all the same.

"Can we get some boxes?" he questioned, motioning to our half eaten food and the lady nodded hurriedly, rushed away and back a moment later with two bags and two foam containers. Skillfully Kakashi and I transferred our food in the boxes before placing the money for the check on the table, walking out of the restaurant.

Glancing over at me briefly, Kakashi nodded towards the nearby building before bounding up to the roof. I followed after him, feet lined in chakra once again as the two of us sprinted over rooftops towards Naruto apartment.

"It looks like Taylor is already there," I said as we approached, my Sharingan allowing me to see through the building, and Kakashi rolled his eyes at me, pulling down his own headband.

The two of us then settled ourselves of the building parallel to Naruto's, sitting on the roof comfortably as our Sharingan allowed us to watch what transpiring inside.

For a minute or two Naruto made small conversation with Taylor, talking about the chunnin exams and how hard he was training and things like that, but when Taylor only smiled in response, not quite sure what to say, Naruto started to get concerned.

"_Nee-chan_?" he questioned, blue eyes concerned as he looked at Taylor. The female blonde smiled at him happily, making Naruto even more confused.

"_Naruto,_" she addressed, scooting forward in her chair. "_I've got some things to tell you…"_

At hearing this the blonde looked absolutely horrified and I had to hold back my laughter.

"_It's nothing bad!" _Taylor quickly added waving her hands, and Naruto sighed with relief.

"_Oh, well, then what are you waiting for?!" _he grinned happily. "_Go on and tell me!"_

Taylor giggled slightly and titled her head to the side, wide smile present on her face once again.

"_Well…I'm pregnant!"_

Kakashi literally slapped his hand over my mouth to keep my laughing silent as Naruto's jaw dropped to the floor his eyes nearly popping out of his face.

"_Are you serious!?" _he shouted jumping up from his seat, and Taylor giggled again, only nodding her head in response. It took Naruto another minute to process the words he'd just heard before he bounded across the room and grabbed Taylor in his arms, hugging her tightly all the while screaming, "_I'M GONNA BE AN UNCLE_!"

Kakashi and I both smiled at the sight, but a moment later when Naruto finally set her down I held my breath.

"It's not over yet…," I grinned and Kakashi quietly chuckled at me.

"_Oh, by the way," _Taylor suddenly added, making Naruto pause. She held up her hand, showing off her new diamond ring. "_Itachi proposed to me yesterday – we're engaged!"_

This time Naruto only started screamed and fell onto the ground, failing around in reaction to what was either happiness or complete shock.

Kakashi didn't even try to hold back my loud laughter this time either – he was too busy cover up his own.

* * *

Following lunch and eavesdropping on Naruto and Taylor, Kakashi and I said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. I returned to the Uchiha district and to my house, heading inside. Sasori wasn't there when I returned, but it was apparent he'd been after I'd departed earlier, for a pot of coffee had been brewed, an empty mug in the sink. I simply rolled my eyes at the sight and went on with my day.

For the next few hours I listened to music, read some more of my book, and did some laundry amongst other things. There really wasn't much to do at a time like this. Everyone was out on missions, including Kiba, Shikamaru and everyone else, and the only duty I had nowadays was to train for the Chunnin Exams – but I didn't, because Deidara was supposed to be back today and I felt it'd be inconsiderate if I wasn't here when he returned.

However, night soon came and the blonde had yet to return. With a sigh I simply gave up on the idea of him returning today, for his mission still had an optional 3 days left, and decided to retire for the day.

Ascending the stairs I stepped into Dei and I's room and leisurely stripped my clothes off, grabbing a shirt of Deidara's to throw on top of my bare torso. After brushing my teeth and whatnot I slinked into the bed and snuggled into the covers, eyes tiredly glancing out to window into the illuminated fall night.

At the calming sight it didn't take me long to fall asleep, thoughts of the day flowing through my mind.

However, my brain soon turned back on at the feeling of two arms looping around my stomach, a new body heat caressing my backside. Cracking my eyes open, I firstly glanced at the clock on my nightstand, the 10:45 pm not being all too surprising to me.

"Welcome back," I croaked, and Deidara's chuckle tickled my body as he leaned over and placed his lips against my temple.

"Sorry I'm so late," he apologized, placing his forehead against my spine. "I didn't think I'd get here at a time like this, yeah…"

I shook my head, still half-asleep. "Don't worry about it…you were on a mission anyway."

With a sigh, Deidara shifted around in to covers, his legs mingling with mine.

"So, did anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

I laughed slightly, my eyes still closed as I replied. "Yeah, Taylor's pregnant and she and Itachi got engaged."

Deidara's reaction was dulled by the fact that he was tired, but he still chuckled, voice sounding a bit surprised.

"Well, that's quite the development, yeah. Itachi's ahead of the game."

I laughed again at that, still trying to keep a grasp on sleep as the two of us continued to talk.

"So," Deidara's voice was suddenly on my ear as his warm breath made me shiver. "Should we make a baby too?"

I giggled. "Let's have a boy – that way I can name him Daisuke."

Deidara must've caught on where I was going with this because he laughed, head descending back down onto his own pillow as he yawned.

"Dei and Dai, huh? We'll see about that, un…"

* * *

**Well...this was fast. I didn't expect to have another chapter up so soon...but here I am! XD**

**Oh well, I'm sure it's not too much of a problem for you all :P**

**Anyway, I don't got much to say. I'm glad to see that a few of you have already reviewed, favorited, and followed - I really appreciate it! Hopefully, you like it so far!**

**Hmmm...there's apple pie in the other room. I think...I think I'm gonna go get some.**

**See you all later!**

**PLEASE REVIEW~**


	3. Agreements Are Formed

**Lauren's POV**

The week following Taylor's pregnancy and engagement was a fairly interesting one. Over the next seven days the remaining Akatsuki members all returned from their missions, as well as many of the other Konoha ninja we considered friends, and Taylor happily announced to them the news.

Hidan and Kakuzu were the first to find out, and the magenta eyed Jashinist went so far as picking Taylor up and spinning her around when he heard the news. Hidan was secretly a sweetheart, just like Kakuzu, who responded in less of a flamboyant fashion, simply congratulating Taylor with a hug and Itachi with a handshake.

Tess and Sakura were the next pair to arrive, a couple days after the zombie brothers. Of course, Tess was first to find out from Hidan, the immortal not being able to keep quiet to his girlfriend after her return, but Taylor was next to confirm it when the red head stomped over to her house and demanded to know if what Hidan was telling her was true. Taylor assured her it was and Tess nearly cracked her spine in a bear hug, even getting over her space issues to throw one on Itachi when he walked into the room to see what was going on. Sakura found out the same day, but from a very excited, self proclaimed "Uncle Naruto".

Finally, nearly an entire week later, Kisame returned. The shark man lived in the house directly across from Itachi and Taylor, so the blonde was able to easily spot him walking into his front door at the end of the day. Hurriedly she went and grabbed Itachi, giddy at the return of their blue skinned friend, and the two traveled across the street to greet him. Kisame happily accepted Taylor's hug when she pounced on him, welcoming him back, but paused a moment later when she told him that while he was gone there had been "big developments". Before Kisame could ponder too much on what said development was, Itachi stepped in and told his partner that he and Taylor had gotten engaged. The shark was stunned for a minute, but quickly hugged Taylor again and slapped Itachi on the shoulder, congratulating them both once the information had kicked in.

"_But I thought you were gonna wait till after the exams to propose?" _The shark questioned Itachi, and at that moment Taylor grinned, wrapping an arm around Itachi lovingly.

"_Well…," _the Uchiha replied with a smile of his own._ "Taylor's pregnant."_

Kisame was silent for another minute before he hugged them both again, this time not knowing what to say, a large grin seeming to suffice well enough.

Soon all of Itachi and Taylor's friend and acquaintances knew, and they were receiving congrats daily. It wasn't until after the week that things finally started to calm down.

"So," I said, glacing over at Deidara as the male stepped up to the coffee pot in the kitchen, preparing himself another cup. "Are you thinking about taking on another mission soon?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Deidara shuffled down the counter and shoveled a spoon of sugar into his mug.

"I'm not really sure, yeah. I'd have to go and talk to Tsunade-sama."

I nodded my head considerately, looking back down at the paper in my hands. Despite the Akatsuki being disband getting missions accepted by a client was sometimes rough, trust not being as strong as with other Konoha shinobi.

"But the Chunnin exams are in a month, yeah," Deidara continued as he slid from the kitchen into the living room, plopping down onto the couch beside me. The blonde was currently only donning a pair of plaid sleeping pants, his torso bare, and because of the cool fall weather curled up beside me, throwing a portion of the blanket I was wrapped in around himself. "I don't wanna accept a mission and then not be here to help you train."

I rolled my eyes, bumping my head against his shoulder.

"It's not like I'm completely helpless on my own," I responded and Deidara playfully narrowed his eyes at me.

"That's not what I meant, yeah."

I giggled slightly. "I know what you meant, but it's not that big of a deal if you're not here. Tess isn't going on anymore mission since the exams are only a month away and she needs to train. Not only that, but training with her would probably be more helpful because we're gonna be on the same team."

Deidara tilted his head considerately, snatching the paper in my hands away from me.

"That makes sense, un. But three members are needed to form a team, and with Taylor being pregnant I doubt she'll be participating."

I sighed, leaning my head against Deidara's shoulder once again.

"I already know that she won't be competing," I responded thoughtfully, a small smile coming to my face. "But I'm working on getting the third member."

The blonde raised an eyebrow at me, blue eyes staring at me questioningly.

"Who are you thinking about?"

I grinned, ready to let the blonde in on who I was thinking of, when there was a sudden knock on the front door.

"I'll get it," Deidara said, and swiftly planted a kiss on my forehead while standing from the couch, shuffling towards the door. Luckily, the blonde had a robe poised on a hook on the landing just for occasions like these and quickly wrapped it around himself before pulling the door open.

"Pardon the intrusion, but is Lauren-san home?"

Blinking in surprise at the unfamiliar sounding voice, I quickly hopped up from my spot and tied my own robe as Deidara stepped aside, letting the man into the house.

"I apologize for my appearance at such a young hour," the ninja bowed to me, holding out a scroll a moment later. "But I have a summons for you from lady Tsunade. She would like to see you this afternoon."

Taking the scroll from him, I quickly bowed myself.

"Thank you very much."

With a swift dip of his head to me, and one to Deidara as he turned and headed back towards the door, the ninja disappeared back into the outside world.

"You got a summoning?" Deidara questioned in surprise as he shut the front door, shuffling back into the family room where I stood, reading over the scroll.

It was a very basic request, something along the lines of "Your presence is requested by the Hokage", and nothing more.

"Apparently," I replied, and shoved the scroll into the pocket of my robe. Swiftly I glided up the stairs and into the bedroom. Deidara walked in as I was stripping out of my clothes and smirked at the scene.

"Stop it," I told him playfully as I pulled open a drawer from the dresser beside the closet, plucking undergarments from inside as I secured them in the correct areas. Following that, I slid over to the closet and dug deep, finding my new ninja wear.

Despite not having the title to go on any high ranking missions, since living in the Naruto world I decided to buy a new set of ninja clothing.

My new outfit consisted of mesh tank top covered by another tank top of deep red color, a short sleeve black jacket overlaying it all. On the bottom I wore a pair of dark gray cargo pants, the lower half of my legs cover in mesh tights and white bandages wrapped around my ankles as they disappeared into the typical ninja-like shoes.

Releasing a small sigh, I finished wrapping my wrists in the same white tape I'd just covered my ankles with, moving to grab my Konoha headband off my nightstand. At that moment Deidara snuck up behind me and, pressing his body against mine, reached past me and took the band from my hands, bringing it up towards me neck. I smiled as he tied a knot silently, letting the headband hang loose around my neck once finished.

"It's just a summoning, yeah," he laughed after stepping back, looking over me with a smirk. "I doubt you need to get all ninja-ed up."

I rolled my eyes playfully and kissed him on the lips before stepping over to the window sill.

"Whatever. See you later."

"Love you," Deidara replied as I stepped onto the railing and propelled myself out from the window, jumping across the buildings of the Uchiha district towards the main part of the leaf village. Within five minutes I was treading the dirt in front of the Hokage mansion. Swiftly I made my way inside the building, the man at the gate not question my business at seeing the scroll in my hands.

"Come in," Tsunade commanded lightly after I knocked on the door, and entering the room I bowed my head to her, holding up the scroll a moment later.

"You called for me?" I questioned raising my eyebrows. The Hokage nodded and spun around in her chair, folding her arms on the wooden desk in front of her in classic Tsunade manner.

"I need you to accompany me to the sand village tomorrow morning," she stated, straight to the point, and I blinked in surprise. Sand village?

"Tomorrow morning? What for?"

"I apologize for the sudden notice," she responded sincerely, eyes lightening as she met my own. "But you're the most intellectual one out of the three of you, and also one of most skilled."

I smiled, rolling my eyes slightly at her compliment.

"Well thank you, but why is my intellect and skill needed?"

"Gaara is hosting a meeting of the Kage's," she explained, tone getting serious once again. "He and I are trying to reach an agreement with the remaining three pertaining to the Shinobi alliance. And we also plan to touch up on some details pertaining to the upcoming Chunnin exams – which I'm sure you know at this point are just over three weeks away."

I nodded. "Hai."

"You're going to be accompanying me to be one of my guards but mostly in case one of the Kage's needs information to support why the alliance should be formed."

I laughed slightly. "If that does happen am I supposed to say that I can see the future?"

Tsunade rolled her eyes at me comment.

"No, but you will be honest. Since you've encountered both Kabuto and Tobi before you've got knowledge on the both of them that others in the village don't have, so your word will be trusted better."

Nodding yet again, I tapped my foot on the ground. "Will Shikaku be coming along too?"

Tsunade shook her head. "Shikaku has already left on another mission and will the meeting being so briefly planned there's no time to call him back to the village." Sighing, the Godaime finally reached into the drawer beside her and pulled out the sake bottle. "Shikamaru will be coming instead, along with Kakashi, who will be my main body guard."

I dipped my head in understanding, the details of the mission still coursing through my head.

"Anything else I need to know?"

"Be at the gates at 7:30 tomorrow morning – we'll be departing immediately."

"Hai," I replied with a bow, and then turned on my heel heading from the room. Quietly, I clicked the door shut behind me and strut back towards the exit.

Tsunade had mentioned to me a while ago that she was going to try and convince the other four main nations to form the alliance. Gaara wouldn't be a problem, but I had no doubt that the other Kage's would be skeptical about the agreement – after all, the alliance was only ever formed because Madara was becoming a huge threat and only two bijuu were left. With the story line being changed at this point I had no idea whether the other seven had already been captured or what, but Naruto was still safe at least…

But after relocating into this world Tsunade had called Tess, Taylor and I together to discuss our current knowledge of their world and future possible events. I, of course, told her that things would most likely change since in our world there was never a point where Taylor, Tess and I reappeared back into the story line, but we could at least predict future moves by Tobi and/or Kabuto.

Sighing, I took in the crisp air outside the Hokage mansion and glanced up at the pale blue sky. Looked like I'd be the one leaving on a mission this time, not Dei.

Laughing to myself, I applied chakra to my feet and bounded back towards the Uchiha district. When I arrived back at the house 10 minutes later I wasn't at all surprised to find Sasori, Sasuke, Kisame and Deidara gathered around the table in the family room, legs crossed as they played some type of card game.

"You're back fast," Deidara comment at my enterance, sending me a smirk as I kicked my shoes off.

"Back fast?" Kisame repeated a grin on his face despite his questioning tone. "Where'd you go?"

Smiling slightly, I shimmied my way between all the men and fell onto the couch, throwing my hands behind my head as I replied.

"Tsunade summoned me."

Across the coffee table Sasuke easily raised a surprised eyebrow at me, his onyx eyes still focused on the card in his hands. Sasori imitated him, but they all remained silent, so I continued.

"The Kage's are meeting up in Suna to discuss the formation of the Shinobi alliance and she wants me to go as a body guard just in case they need more information."

"More information?" Sasori scoffed, laying his card on the table as the round continued. "What are you supposed to tell them when they ask? "I see into the future"?"

I clapped my hands together, laughing loudly as I pointed at him.

"Yes! That's exactly what I said!"

Chuckling slightly, Sasuke input again.

"It makes sense thought either way. Lauren is a capable body guard and if the other Kage's have questions then she'll be able to supply the answers they're looking for."

I batted my eyelashes at him sarcastically. "Why thank you!"

Sasori rolled his eyes at me, but Deidara and Kisame chuckled.

"So, when does the mission start?" Dei question and I yawned, stretching my arms above my head.

"Tomorrow morning. We're meeting at the gate at 7:30."

"Tomorrow, yeah?" Deidara said in surprise, blue eyes glancing up from his hand of cards to meet mine. "That's a little short notice…"

"Yep!" I agree, swinging a hand over my eyes as I thought about the mission details once again. "But I don't have a problem with it."

* * *

And so, the next morning I woke up around 6, silently sneaking down to the kitchen. I instinctively started a pot of coffee for Deidara, who was still asleep in bed, and then grabbed an apple from the counter. As I munched on the fruit I snuck back up the stairs and into the bathroom – which thankfully also could be accessed from the hallway. Quickly, I took a shower and after drying my body, pulled on the clothes that I had set out for myself the night before. After securing the outfit and wrapping my wrists and ankles in tape I stepped back out into the bedroom and swiftly grabbed my headband off the nightstand, transporting downstairs in an instant when Deidara started rustle around.

Sighing, I cursed myself for being so concerned but smiled at the same time, shaking my head at myself. I just wanted Deidara to be content.

Heisting the headband up to my neck I tied the long black ends into a knot and let the metal plate fall around my neck.

Standing in the living room, I took one final glance around the house and then headed to the backyard. Deidara and I had a small shed there of which contained all of our ninja tools and Deidara's clay.

Opening the shed I grabbed a bundle of kunai and shuriken and placed them inside my hip pouch. Deciding that there probably would be little if any fighting on the trip I decided to leave the katana Kakashi had given me however many years ago in the shed.

Taking in a deep breath I turned to leave the perimeter but was stopped when a pair of arms wrapped around my waist.

"Be safe, un," Deidara whispered tiredly from behind me and in a swift motion I turned around and kissed him firmly. With a lazy smirk Deidara was gone a moment later having transported himself back into the bedroom.

Feeling a bit better at that point, I sped towards the main gates. When I arrived Tsunade was already standing there, accompanied by both Shikamaru and Kakashi. The Nara took a movement to wave at me upon my arrival and Kakashi gave me a brief two finger salute, which I smiled at.

"Let's get going," Tsunade said swiftly once the four of us were gathered, and with a resounding "hai!" from the three of us body guards we were on our way.

* * *

The next day we arrived at the gates of the sand village around noon. The village was hot as ever; sweat already sticking to my brow despite the fact that I wasn't even wearing a jacket at this point. The guards at the gate were easily able to distinguish the Hokage and bowed as we passed, saying nothing.

Taking the heat in stride, Tsunade strut into the village and directly towards Gaara's mansion, where all of the Kage would be meeting. We arrived at the large sand building within half an hour and Temari was at the door waiting to greet us.

"Good afternoon, Tsunade-sama," she bowed, and the Hokage dipped her head in reply.

"The meeting is scheduled to take place tomorrow at noon," the blonde haired sand ninja elaborated as she led us into the mansion. I marveled at the brown sandy walls as we walked past, never having seen them before. From what Tess had told me, the village wasn't anything exciting but that was mostly because she'd lived here with Gaara way back when we fell into this world and was constantly coming to the sand village for medicinal reasons.

"However, Gaara would like to discuss some matters before hand with you," Temari continued, catching my attention. Tsunade nodded in understanding.

"Alright." The Hokage paused and turned back to the three of us walking behind her. "Shikamaru, Kakashi, Lauren, you three may have the remainder of the evening off – we will reconvene in the morning."

"Hai!" the three of us saluted, and with that Tsunade continued down the hall, Temari at her side.

When the two were out of site Shikamaru, Kakashi, and I all glanced at each other.

"Lunch?" I suggested, and the two were all for it.

* * *

The next morning the meeting proceeded as planned. With Kakashi, Shikamaru and I at her side, Tsunade walked into the large meeting room and took her seat at the circular table below the red flag with the "fire" kanji on it. Kakashi positioned himself on her left and Shikamaru and I both stood to the right, backs straight as the rest of the Kage slowly began to enter.

The next to arrive was, of course, Gaara, both Temari and Kankuro poised at his sides. Swiftly following the Kazekage was Tsuchikage, the older man accompanied by Akatsuchi and Kurotsuchi. A moment later Raikage stomped in, face serious as ever as he made his way to his chair, Darui and C by his side. The last to appear was Mizukage, the female swiftly making her way across the room with Choujuurou and Ao accompanying her.

Silently, I laughed to myself. This was just like the original meeting at Hokage summit – everything was the same beside the fact that I was here.

Straightening up, I glanced around, expecting the meeting to start immediately. It did not, however, and a moment later I noted that there was still chair left empty. Before I had the chance to ponder on who the chair belonged to though, there were footsteps behind me and I glanced back to see none other than Pein and Konan walking into the chamber.

Blinking in surprise I nearly called out to the two happily, but quickly stopped myself, remembering my place at the meeting. Both Pein and Konan noticed me however and acknowledged my presence with a slight dip of their heads. After knowing Pein for so long, I could tell that he and Konan wanted to smile at me too, but this was a meeting of the Kage's and we weren't here to reminisce – this was some serious shit.

"I apologize for my lateness," Pein said sternly as he slid into his chair, ringed eyes glancing around at all the Kage's.

"You aren't late at all," Gaara assured him and then turned to face everyone in the room. "Now, let's discuss the matter we've all gathered here for."

"Right," Tsunade agreed and leaned her elbows onto the table, crossing her arms. "We're here to discuss the formation of the Shinobi alliance."

"If we're having a meeting about an alliance of the five nations then why is the Akatsuki leader also here?" Raikage questioned angrily, his temper and impatience already showing so early in the day.

Gaara folded his arms. "Raikage, we are all aware that the Akatsuki has been disband – Pein-san is here on behalf of Ame."

"So what if he's here on behalf of the rain village?!" Raikage replied heatedly, arm motioning towards the orange haired leader. "That doesn't change the fact that he's still a threat to the other great nations! The Akatsuki should not be able to get off so easily after everything they've done!"

"Raikage!" Tsuchikage butted in sternly, trying to calm the man, but before anything else could be said Pein stood from his seat and bowed deeply to everyone in the room.

"As the previous leader of the Akatsuki I am very grateful to Tsunade-sama and the other nations for forgiving our sins with so little retribution," he stated, looking around the table. "However, I can assure you that the Akatsuki has disband for good and no longer will be pursuing any of the motives we previous have."

"And you expect me to believe that?" Raikage snorted sarcastically, plopping back into his seat. "What bullshit."

"Raikage!" Tsunade barked, slamming her palms onto the table. "This is a meeting concerned with the future of the nations and possibly the world – not one of discussing the Akatsuki and there previous actions!"

"But the future of the nations is going to be compromised if we allow the leader of the organization to sign into a treaty with us!" The black Kage yelled back, own fists making a dent in the hard sand table.

I could hear Tsunade's knuckles cracking as she clenched her fists with impatience, but before either one could say a word more, Tsuchikage interrupted.

"Raikage," the old man addressed, glancing over at the larger man with wise eyes. "Clearly you wouldn't know this, considering none other previous Akatsuki members belonged to your village, but recently Deidara, a member of the disband Akatsuki and previous disciple of mine, came to the village in order to make amends for his actions." The Tsuchikage smiled slightly, folding his hands together. "I believe that Deidara is truly sorry for what he has done and I have forgiven him – no longer does the Rock Village consider him a nuke-nin or threat."

"Sasori has also made amends with the sand village as well," Gaara put in, green eyes glancing over to the slightly surprised looking Raikage. "We no longer consider him to be a threat but an ally, and the village has forgiven him for his previous actions."

"Kisame recently came to see me as well," Mizukage admitted, smiling a bit as she folded her hands under her chin. "He promised that he'd no longer be using his skills for the side of evil and would do his best as a ninja to protect those he cared about – therefore, I forgave him."

"Itachi has also been fully accepted back into the Leaf Village as a full-fledged ninja," Tsunade input for good measure. "He no longer holds ties to the Akatsuki and has been taken off all bounty lists."

Despite being slightly calmed by their words, Raikage wasn't completely convinced.

"If they're no longer a threat to society then why did they not come here to prove it?"

"Um—," I put in, immediately stopping myself for fact that I wasn't sure if I was allowed to speak or not, but Tsunade quickly nodded her head to me, so I continued. "Itachi's fiancée was recently discovered to be pregnant," I explained, and I noted that Pein, Konan, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro's eyes all widened in surprise. "So he didn't want to leave her at home alone. And all of the other members recently returned from missions and were excited at the news as well, so they did not feel the need to come either…"

"Give Taylor and Itachi my congrats," Gaara put in swiftly once I had finished, and I smiled a little. The rest of the Kage however, looked very confused to who I was talking about.

"Taylor?" Tsuchikage questioned hesitantly. "Is that the name of Itachi Uchiha's fiancée?"

I nodded, but before anything else could be said Tsunade butted in.

"Yes, but this is not what we're here to talk about." The blonde glanced over to the Raikage, who was now calmly seated in his chair. "Are you satisfied with everything that has been said?"

Despite still looking a bit grumpy, the black Kage nodded and I swore that Tsunade almost sighed with relief.

"Good," Mizukage put in. "Now are we in agreement that the alliance should be formed?"

The Tsuchikage crossed his arms, frowning. "I understand that forming the alliance would be the right decision but yet I still do not fully comprehend the reason as to why…"

"Tobi and Zetsu are very dangerous," I explained, this time not waiting for Tsunade's approval to speak. "Tobi intends to continue on his mission to capture all the bijuu so that the 10 tails can be revived, and with Kabuto still out there his rate at doing so may increase if the two decide to partner up."

Mizukage raised her eyes in surprise at my words. "How do you know this much?"

"I've faced the two before," I elaborated, dipping my head slightly. "I know what Tobi is planning and also know he's determined enough that he will not stop in his motives until he is dead."

"Lauren possesses very valuable sources of information," Tsunade continued, glancing back at me through the corner of her eye. "Her wisdom has never led me wrong."

"I see," Tsuchikage murmured, crossing his arms. "Then I guess it would be best if the alliance was formed…"

From beside me, Shikamaru coughed. I glanced at him in surprise.

"If I may…," he started, continuing when Tsunade gave a nod of approval. "It is my opinion that it'd be best not to implement the alliance at this time, but at least make arrangements so that if it ever need come into play, there would be no hesitation on the matter."

Gaara nodded considerately. "That makes sense. We wouldn't the nations in an uproar or worry over the alliance. It'd be best to wait until it's clear that Tobi is making a move to truly form into one…"

"I agree," Tsuchikage put in, and the other two Kage's nodded.

"Alright then," Tsunade said, sounding relieved. "Are we all in agreement that should the alliance need to be formed there will be no hesitation from any party – including Ame."

All of the Kage's and Pein nodded. "Hai."

"Well," Tsunade folded her arms under her breasts happily. "That matter is taken care of. Let's move onto the Chunnin exams."

"Yes," Gaara agreed, and shuffled some papers around in front of him. "As you all know the Chuunin exams are being held in the sand village this year. However, because of the possible threat of Tobi or Kabuto making a move, unlike in years past there will be no period between the second and third portion of the exams for training. The skill that the Genin go into the exams with will be what they compete with for the whole length. The written test will still be followed by an elimination round where teams will have to finish first in order to qualify for the next one on one battle, where the numbers will once again be cut in half. Finally, we will have the final contestants participate in a battle in the area where spectators will be able to watch – and this is where it will be decided if they are worthy of being called Chunnin or not."

"The absence of time to train should not be a problem," Mizukage confirmed, all of the other Kage nodding in agreement. So with that, Gaara dipped his head and stood.

"Well then, the meeting is adjourned."

There was a collective sigh throughout the room as the remaining Kage stood. I, on the other hand, was currently pumped at the talk of the upcoming Chuunin exams.

"Man, I can't wait!" I exclaimed quietly, shaking my hands out as I bounced from foot to foot. "I'll get to be a Chuunin finally!"

Shikamaru chuckled while Kakashi shook his head at me, placing a hand on my head.

"Don't get too cocky," he said teasingly, but I rolled my eyes at him, knowing that he thought I wouldn't have a problem either.

"Wait a moment, you're only a Genin?"

Blinking, I turned to find Tsuchikage standing behind me, looking a bit surprised. Nodding thoughtfully, I smiled back at him.

"I am. I've never gotten a chance to participate in the exams before."

Our conversation now louder, Mizukage also overheard and glanced at Tsunade.

"I'm surprised that you'd bring only one with Genin rank as one of your personal body guards…"

Tsunade smirked slightly, glancing over at me. "Technically speaking, Lauren possesses the ability of one that could hold the title of Jonin – but like she explained, she's never gotten the chance to take the exams before."

"Well," Tsuchikage commented as he turned on his heel and started back towards the door. "I'll be rooting for you then."

Smiling to myself I bowed as both he and Mizukage exited to the room. "Hai! Arigatou!"

Tsunade, Kakashi, Shikamaru and I then waited for Raikage to leave, his aids at his side. Tsunade took a moment to speak briefly with Gaara once again, and I quickly took the opportunity to bound over and hug both Pein and Konan, neither caring anymore since the rest of the Kage were gone.

"I've missed you guys!" I told them honestly, and Pein chuckled.

"Yes, we've also missed all of you."

"And oh my god, Taylor's pregnant!" Konan exclaimed, her inner fangirl getting the best of her at the news. I laughed.

"Yeah. Itachi was stoked when he found out – so stoked that he proposed."

Konan giggled and punched me in the shoulder. "I better be getting a wedding invitation then!"

"Hai, hai!" I muttered back, and hugged the two once more as they made their way out of the room.

However, soon the four of us were headed back through the large building as well, planning on heading home immediately.

"That reminds me," Shikamaru said as the four of us stepped out into the dry desert heat. He glanced over at me questioningly. "I assume Taylor won't be participating in the exams, so who is going to be your third teammate?"

Grinning to myself, I swung my arms behind my head. I'd already gotten everything planned out.

"Why, none other than her brother of course!"

* * *

**Hello :D**

**I'm kinda tired, ya know? I had to wake up at 6 this morning so that I could drive to school and take the PSAT. I think I did pretty well, but there's always those questions you get where you're just like "is this even real?". Yeah, those are the questions where I'm just like "Well...I haven't marked C down in a while..."**

**Anyway, yeah, it's been a pretty long day. I was planning on finished up my Conclusion paragraph for the essay I'm writing for AP English about people in Japan going to Aokigahara forest to kill themselves...but I'm not sure I feel that up to it. I might just do it tomorrow.**

**Hmmm...I'm not really sure what else to say. Hopefully you guys like it so far :P**

**Well, I'm gonna go now! See you next time!**

**Oh, and please guys, I'd love to have a fan-drawn cover photo for the story! I haven't found anything I like (which is why it's still my profile picture of Ittoki Otoya) and I think it'd be awesome to see what you guys can come up with! :D**

**But yeah, if you do decided to give it a shot, let me know or send me a link when you're done. I'd totally use it as the cover photo.**

**Okay, now I'm done.**

**Please review!**


	4. I Figured It Out!

**Lauren's POV**

We all arrived back in the leaf village the next day, just as evening was beginning to set in. At the gate Tsunade dismissed Kakashi, Shikamaru and I, and the four of us all went our separate ways. I trailed back towards the Uchiha district at a leisurely pace, taking in all the reddening tree's on my walk. Fall really was a beautiful season – if only it didn't bring colder weather along with it.

Sighing, I smirked at the cloud of fog that formed in front of my face. The evening was getting colder by the minute. Thankfully, I stepped into the Uchiha district in less than two and headed up the main path towards Deidara and I's house.

As I stepped into the warmth of the building I shivered at the temperature change and slipped my shoes off on the landing. At hearing me enter Deidara's head popped out of the doorway to the kitchen down the hall.

"Oh, you're back," he said, sounding surprised as he fully stepped into the hall, revealing his apron adorned body. I rolled my eyes at his attire and nodded.

"Yeah – the meeting didn't take as long as expected."

Smiling, Deidara shuffled down the hallway to meet me and I instantly wrapped my arms around him. He did the same and we both stood there for a second before the blonde pulled back and motioned towards the kitchen.

"I'm in the middle of making dinner? You want some, yeah?"

Grinning at the offer I nodded and followed after him. As we entered the kitchen my nose was instantly filled with the smell of vanilla and sausage.

"You guys really took to pancakes back in our world," I snickered as I slid into a chair at the table, watching Deidara as he flipped the spatula positioned on the counter into his hand.

"Well," he responded as he flipped the half cooked pancakes, "as Hidan would say, "these little shits are fucking good" yeah."

I laughed at that, thinking about the pink eyed Jashinist. I hadn't had any quality time with him in while…I'd have to change that.

A few minutes passed following Deidara's witty response and in silence the blonde moved around the kitchen, preparing everything else that would be needed for the meal. Deidara truthfully was a good cook – back in our world he'd effectively learned how to make pancakes and other food that was more angled towards lunch, mostly because Tess, Taylor and I would be at school and they would all have to fend for themselves. I was a fairly good cook as well, and because of this Deidara and I were able to create simple meals fairly easy.

"Order up, un," he chimed in after a moment, sliding a plate in front of me on the table. I thanked him and then immediately dug in, my stomach begging for food after not having been fed since early this afternoon. A couple seconds later Deidara fixed a plate for himself and we both made small conversation while indulging in the fluffy pancakes.

"So, you gonna go and see Taylor tonight?" the bomber questioned as the two of us tidied up the kitchen, out meal over with. I nodded my head considerately, placing the dishes in my hand into the soapy sink waters.

"Probably – you gonna come?"

Deidara smirked, shaking his head.

"Nah," he replied sneaking up behind me, his hands grasping my hips gently. "I might head over to Sasori no Danna's and see what he's up to, yeah."

"Fun," I responded with a laugh, slipping out from his grasp. Deidara only rolled his eyes at me and started scrubbing the dishes as I snuck up the stairs and into the bedroom. I quickly snatched a coat from our closet and threw it over my shoulders, hopping back down the stairs a moment later.

"You good?" I questioned, popping my head into the doorframe of the kitchen and Deidara held up his hand in reply, waving it nonchalantly.

"Yeah – see you later."

"Bye!" I happily responded with a smile and skid over to the landing, slipping my shoes on before stepping out into the dark fall night. I jogged the whole way to Taylor and Itachi's house – if not only to distract me from the cold air – and let myself in upon arrival. Stepping onto the landing I discarded my shoes and coat and walked into the living room, not at all surprised to find Taylor lounging on the couch curled up in a blanket with a book in her hand.

"Oh hey!" She said at seeing me, quickly smacking her book shut and springing up from the couch. With the blanket still tangled around her Taylor staggered towards me and with a laugh I caught her in my arms, hugging her back.

"The mission didn't take long at all then," she stated matter-of-fact, wrapping her arm around my shoulder, shrouding me in her large blanket. I nodded as the two of us walked back towards the couch, plopping onto the cushions.

"Yeah – the meeting went smoother than expected, but that's good."

Taylor giggled. "I bet! – if it hadn't gone smooth Tsunade probably would've wrecked the place."

I laughed along with her at the thought, but suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, by the way," I chimed in, leaning my head atop hers with a small smile. "Pein and Konan were there – they said congratulations on getting engaged and Konan demands an invitation to the wedding."

Taylor blinked in surprise, large brown eyes glancing up at me.

"Of course they're getting invites! But oh my god, I can't believe you saw them! How are they doing?"

I laughed at her enthusiasm. Since defeating Orochimaru Pein and Konan had returned to rule Ame, and with everything happening no one had heard from them since.

"They're fine," I told her honestly. "Tsunade and Gaara are trying to help them work out some kinks with the other Kage so they can join the alliance, but everything seems to be going pretty well. I didn't get a chance to talk to them that much."

Taylor nodded considerately, a smile stretching onto her lips.

"Well that's good," she murmured softly, and while watching her suddenly something clicking in my mind.

"Taylor," I addressed, and the blonde glanced up at me, slight confusion on her face at my tone. "When are you and Itachi gonna get married?"

Once again, the blondes eyes widened, realization seeming to dawn on her face as she caught onto what I was hinting at.

"You're not gonna wanna get married when you're nine months pregnant," I continued on, mumbling to myself as if saying Taylor's inner thoughts. "And knowing you, you'd be disappointed if you got married after having the baby, so…"

"I…," Taylor said, face as confused as ever, and I suddenly wondered if I'd accidently broken her…, "I don't know…I didn't really think about it…"

"Well hey, you've got some time," I assured her, swinging my arm around her shoulder, but Taylor wasn't comforted at all.

"No," she retorted, and threw her half of the blanket onto me, standing from the couch. I watched in surprise as Taylor shuffled over to the landing and started to gather her coat and shoes. "I need to talk to Itachi…"

"Taylor-," I tried again, but the blonde was determined at this point and, after slipping her sandals on, quickly stepped out of the front door and jogged over to Kisame house (where Itachi most likely was). I sat there on her couch for a moment and then sighed. Maybe I shouldn't have brought it up…but then again, if I hadn't have talked about it now; Taylor may have been more stressed out by it later on…

Shaking my head, I threw the blanket off my body and stretched out my limbs, standing from the couch. With another small sigh I made my way back to the landing and slipped on my shoes and coat, heading back towards my own house.

The day had been long enough – I was ready for sleep.

* * *

The following morning I woke up to half an empty bed. I groaned in question, still too asleep to actually act surprised, and groggily threw the covers off my body. Yawning, I slipped out of the bed and staggered into the hall, carefully making my way down the stairs with stiff, sleepy joints.

When I arrived on the main floor, Deidara was nowhere in sight, so I staggered into the kitchen to see if there was any sign of the blonde there. Of course, the coffee was brewed, but beside the pot was a note.

"**Glad to see you slept in after a long mission. Went out to train with Danna, be back this afternoon."**

I merely blinked at the note, yawning once again. It wasn't really anything surprising to me – Deidara and Sasori still trained a lot despite not being partners anymore. Well…technically none of the Akatsuki were associates or partners anymore, but in reality that didn't really change too much. Kakuzu and Hidan still went on missions together, Itachi and Kisame literally lived 15 steps away from each other, and Deidara and Sasori were still constantly training.

Smiling to myself absentmindedly, I shuffled around the kitchen and pulled out a bowl, spoon, milk and cereal. Sitting at the table by myself, I ate in a peaceful silence, trying to coax my mind into fully wakening up.

Following breakfast, I traveled back upstairs and took a shower. The last one I'd taken was the night before the meeting of the Kage's, the first day we had arrived in Suna, and by now I felt kind of grimy.

The shower was definitely nice considering, and once I was finished I dressed up in a less ninja-like fashion, simply slipping on a pair of baggy pants and a long-sleeved navy shirt. Pulling my hair up into a loose bun, I angled a pair of decorative chopsticks through the hair band and then looked in the mirror, smiling in appreciation at my curly brown locks.

After the incident back in our world, the one with Itachi and Sasuke and the giant fireball and all that (which caused me to cut my hair to about shoulder-length), Deidara had sincerely told me that he believed it looked better this way, so I'd decided to keep it this way. With my hair now only being shoulder length, it was still long enough to be put into a ponytail, but also short enough to be more manageable when brushing and all that.

Overall, it was nice.

Now feeling clean and fresh, I headed back downstairs and settled onto the couch in the living room.

According to the nearby clock it was nearly noon already, and now I truthfully understood what Deidara's not had meant by "slept in". Of course, Deidara had the tendency to do the same after his mission too.

For an hour I lounged on the couch, continued reading my book, and daydreamed. When I finally got bored of all of that, I stood and headed back upstairs, pulling the clothes hamper from Dei and I's closet.

The two of us had an agreement. Deidara would wash the dishes, since I hated dealing with dirty plates, and I would handle the laundry. So I figured I'd keep up my end of the deal and sorted the basket out by color before carrying an armful downstairs and towards the back of the house. Like Taylor and Itachi's house, our property also had an enclosed garden area, of which we had strung a clothes line. Unlike in our world, the Naruto world wasn't as blessed in the advancement of technology, so while washers had already come into play, driers had not.

Humming to myself I threw the clothes in my arms into the open washing machine and started it up, listening contently as water started flooding into the metal cylinder. For a little while, I simply lounged on the wooden floor in front of the washer, enjoying the sight of the garden in front of me. 10 minutes later the washer buzzed and I lazily pushed myself up, opening the top. However, just as I did I could hear a faint knock on the front door. Instead of going to answer it like any civil person, I figured that if someone had the decency to knock they weren't here to kill me, so I simply yelled "come in!"

A couple seconds later I heard footsteps padding up the hall towards me and glanced over to see Tess's red hair appear in the doorway. The female simply propped herself up against the doorframe and looked me over with amused green eyes.

"You're becoming quite the housewife," she joked, and I rolled my eyes at her, moving outside to hang the damp clothes nonetheless.

"Oh haha," I replied sarcastically as I started flipping clothes onto the line. "I could say the same to you."

Tess moved from the doorframe and stepped out onto the deck beside me. This time she was the one rolling her eyes.

"I wouldn't say that," she retaliated with a smirk. "I've been gone on missions to the Sand and Rock a couple of times, yet you've been home catching old ladies cats."

"That was one time!" I hissed back at her, a smile on my face despite my harsh tone. "And the lady fucking asked me for help because I was walking by! Plus, you've only gone on mission for your medical standing, nothing else."

"It's a mission all the same," Tess replied, eyebrows raised in amusement. I puffed my cheeks out at her in reply, causing her to laugh.

"Anyway," I continued on after a moment, stringing the last of the damp clothes onto the line. "What are you here for?"

"Well," Tess started, crossing her arms. "The Chuunin exams are three weeks from today, which only gives us about 2 and a half weeks to practice considering the time it will take to travel to sand and register…"

"And your point is…?"

"My point is – while you and I have trained together a lot, Naruto hasn't trained with us at all. Even if he is Taylor's brother and they have the same techniques essentially, Naruto is a lot less refined than she is, so the whole "teamwork" think isn't just going to click with him right away."

I blinked in surprise, looking over at her. I knew she was right. When I'd first asked Naruto if he'd be the third member to our team I knew that he wouldn't have the exact same fighting style as Taylor and that we'd have to work on our team skills, but at this point we only had 3 weeks and still hadn't practiced at all.

"You're right," I agreed with a sigh. "We should probably go talk to him and figure something out."

Tess half rolled her eyes, smirking a bit. "That's why I'm here, love."

"Shut up," I laughed at her, and stepped back into the house, starting towards the front door. First I made a pit stop in the kitchen and grabbed the pen beside Deidara's original note, scribbling my own at the bottom in case he returned before I did and wondered where I went. With that taken care of I slid out into the hall and stepped onto the landing, slipping on my shoes and jacket. Tess was already on the porch waiting for me, so when I stepped out the two of us headed down the front steps and started towards the main part of the village.

"So," I said after a couple of minutes, glancing over at the female beside me. She met my gaze. "With everything going on with Taylor and Itachi have you and Hidan, ya know…"

Tess rolled her eyes at me, glacing up at the clear sky overhead. She was quiet for a moment.

"Of course _I've_ thought about it," she responded, eyes narrowing. "But I haven't brought up the topic, and neither has Hidan. I'm pretty sure that he doesn't want to either considering he's immortal. I just don't really know how that'd all work out…"

I frowned, feeling a bit bad. Not so much for bring it up, but more for that it was clear Tess loved Hidan and Hidan adored Tess, so it was sad that she felt that way…

"Maybe you should just ask for the sake of asking," I chimed in after a moment. "It couldn't hurt."

Tess rolled her eyes at me again, a grin spreading onto her face a moment later.

"What about you?" she questioned. "Have you and Deidara thought about it at all?"

I blinked in surprise, a little caught off guard by the question.

"Deidara always jokes about getting married and having a kid," I responded after a moment. "But I doubt he's serious about it."

Tess laughed, smacking me in the shoulder. "When guys joke about shit like that it usually means that deep inside they're serious about it," she responded, but I waved her off.

"Whatever – our main priority is the Chuunin exams at this point anyway."

Tess nodded, still smirking a bit. "Yeah."

A couple minutes later the red head and I scaled the steps of Naruto's apartment building and stopped in front of his door. Tess rapped on the wood a couple time and a few seconds later the door flew open, a surprised looking Naruto standing on the other side.

"Oh, hey guys!" he said at seeing us standing there, a large smile stretching across his face. Naruto, of course, donned his typical black and orange jumpsuit, which I couldn't help but smile at. "What's up?"

"We just came to see when you'd be willing to train," Tess stated honestly, and I nodded in agreement as Naruto looked confused.

"The Chuunin exams are only three weeks away at this point, so Tess and I think it'd be a good idea if the three of us started training together," I explained, and Naruto instantly perked up.

"Of course!" he replied with a grin. "You guys are just like Sasuke and Sakura-chan after all, so it shouldn't be too tough!"

I smirked slightly. "So what days should we meet up?"

"Monday, Wednesday, Friday," Tess stated instantly, and Naruto nodded after thinking a moment.

"That should work," I agreed and with a grin Tess gently slapped Naruto in the shoulder, making him smile once again.

"Alright, it's settled then," she stated, and then turned to start walking away. "Sorry to bother you Naruto."

"Hey, wait!" Naruto called after us as we started to pad away, and Tess and I stopped, turning to look back at him.

"You wanna go out to dinner?"

Glancing at each other, Tess shrugged her shoulders with indifference, so I turned to Naruto with a smile.

"Sure!"

Happily, Naruto disappeared back into his apartment for a moment, if only to slip his shoes on, and then jogged after us, hurriedly locking his door behind him. Together the three of us all headed down to the street and Naruto took the lead, skipping towards where ever he was planning to take us.

A couple minutes later Naruto stopped in front of a casual looking restaurant and motioned us inside. Once inside the warmth of the restaurant Tess and I looked around and were surprised to see Sasuke and Sakura sitting at a large booth nearby, chatting about something.

"Sasuke, Sakura-chan and I meet up for dinner once a week," Naruto informed the two of us happily, walking past us towards the booth where his teammates were. As the blonde approached the pinkette and navy haired Uchiha both looked up and greeted him. However, a moment later Sasuke eyes found Tess and I, both who were still standing in the doorway, and instantly waved us over.

"Naruto didn't tell us that he was meeting you guys," I said awkwardly as Tess and I approached the booth. "So I hope we're not intruding…"

"Of course not!" Sakura replied happily and immediately scooted over, Naruto and Sasuke doing the same.

Laughing slightly, I slid into the booth next to the pinkette and Tess slid in next to Naruto and Sasuke, seated directly across from me. The five of us proceeded to order dinner and drinks, just talking for a while after that. As we did so, I couldn't help but feel happy about the fact that team 7 was seated at a table eating dinner together and talking casually. Sure, I'd hoped way back when that a day like this would happen, and here it finally was.

Since returning to this world and being accepted back as a full-fledged shinobi of the leaf village, Sasuke had made a point to apologize to both Sakura and Naruto for everything that happened in the past, and the two easily forgave him, simply glad that he was back and done with evil.

Nearly two hours later, the five of us finally decided that it was time to leave, and spit the check before standing and heading out into the orange fall evening. We all said our goodbyes, and Sakura and Naruto headed the opposite direction of Sasuke, Tess, and I as we headed back towards the Uchiha district.

The walk took around 15 minutes, and upon arrival I instantly invited Sasuke and Tess to my house for tea. The two accepted, just happy to get out of the cool weather, and we all ascended the steps onto the porch.

However, none of us could even get past the landing before Deidara appeared from out of the family room.

"Oh good, you're all here, yeah," he said, making the three of us pause in question.

"Taylor came by looking for all of you earlier," he continued, pressing a hand to his hip. "She wanted me to tell you all if I saw you to go and talk to her."

At hearing that I groaned slightly and ushered Sasuke and Tess back into the cold, immediately following after them. The three of us then proceeded up the road to Taylor and Itachi's house, letting ourselves in the front door.

Having heard us come in, Taylor sprang up from the couch and skipped over to greet us all with hugs.

"You were looking for us?" Sasuke questioned after a moment, and Taylor beamed happily, rocking back and forth on her heels.

"Yeah! I've got some things to tell you guys!"

"Shoot," Tess said simply, and Taylor's smile widened.

"I figured it out," she said causing the three of us to raise an eyebrow at her. "I figured out when Itachi and I are gonna get married."

I blinked in surprise. "When?"

"The week after the Chuunin exams!" she exclaimed happily, and I could feel Sasuke and Tess freeze in shock beside me, my reaction similar to theirs. "That way when we get married I won't have too big of a tummy yet, and we won't have to wait until after the baby is born!"

"So fucking soon…" Tess whispered after a moment and I nodded in agreement. It was soon.

"I know it's soon," Taylor said considerately, "but Itachi thinks that it's a good idea too. So now I just need a bit of help with some of the planning, which is why I've called you guys over here."

"Of course I'll help," I said right away despite still being partially shocked at the news. "But just know that Tess and I made agreements with Naruto today to train for a couple of hours every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, so we're not gonna be completely available then…"

"That's fine!" Taylor replied happily. "I'm not gonna need your help all the time! More with finding a dress and picking out colors and all that…Itachi is handling finding a location. Oh, and considering the Chuunin exams are coming up, we're gonna need to have everything planned out by the time everyone leaves for Suna…"

"Well, I'll see if I can help Itachi in anyway," Sasuke added in with the dip of his head, and at hearing that Taylor finally sprung at the three of us, happy as can be as she pulled us into a group hug.

While in the hug I glanced over at Tess, who met my eyes with the same feeling I had.

Helping to plan a wedding and training for the Chuunin exams would be taking up a lot of our time…it would be a busy next three weeks.

* * *

**Yo! Wassup?**

**Hope you're all having a good weekend so far :D Mine's been pretty good. **

**I've been looking up college's all day, because fucking why not, right? And at this point I really like MSU, Eastern, and Western... (Michigan State University, Eastern Michigan University, and Western Michigan University) I'm planning on either majoring in Japanese and getting a teaching degree to go along with it, or just major in linguistics altogether and still get a teaching degree. **

**Meh. Honestly, I'm too fucking worried about college shit at this point because I'm only a junior at this point, and I truthfully probably don't even need to start worrying about college stuff until at least next trimester, but after reading The Overachievers this summer I just haven't been able to stop...oh well, I guess this just means I'm ahead of the game XD  
**

**Anyway, I don't really have much else to say. **

**Oh, I finished that essay I talked about in my last AN and I'm really hoping I get an 8-9 on it (which are the two best grades you can get on the AP scale). I'm so fricking proud of that shit - it sounded good I tell you. Like GOOD. **

**We also got progress reports last week too. I currently have 4 A's and a B+ in pre-calc. However, I'm not too upset about it. If I can end the trimester with 4 A's and a B in my worst subject (next to science), then I'll be fucking happy. I do have an A- in AP English though, which worries me because It'd be awesome to get an A...which is why I'm hoping I get an 8 or 9 on that essay, so it'll bring my grade up to a solid A...**

**Anyway, I'm done talking now XD I've got to clean my room (which really isn't dirty at all, mind you) before my mom starts getting mad at me for not having done it yet.**

**Bye now!  
**

**Please Review!**


	5. Delivering Invites

**Lauren's POV**

A week after Taylor's announcement to us that she and Itachi would be getting married after the exams I found myself standing on the sidelines of the Uchiha training grounds. Naruto and Tess were in the middle of the field sparring and I had decided to sit out, having already trained for a while. At this point in the evening the three of us had already been here for a couple of hours, and I was about ready to be done.

As I plopped myself onto the ground I thought about what had happened in the past seven days. Tess and I had helped Taylor decide on a color scheme for her wedding – red and emerald green – and Sasuke and Kisame had been helping Itachi try to pick out a location. I had yet to hear if they'd decided on one, but at least progress was being made.

"Yo!"

I blinked out of my thoughts and looked up to find Tess standing in front of me. The red head poised her hands on her hips and glanced down at me.

"You look done."

I nodded, snickering to myself. "I am done."

"Well then," Tess said and held her hand out to me, heaving me up from the ground when I took it. "I guess training today is finished."

"Hey," Naruto said, jogging up to the two of us. The blonde grinned widely. "Taylor invited us all over for dinner tonight, right? So let's get going! I'm starving!"

Tess rolled her eyes at the Uzumaki, trailing behind him as he skipped down the path back towards the main part of the district, and I laughed slightly, jogging to catch up with the two. Taylor was constantly inviting others over for dinner. She adored cooking and was fantastic at it, so with her no longer being able to train or go on mission because of her pregnancy; she was doing it a lot more.

After five minutes of walking Naruto, Tess and I approached Itachi and Taylor's home. Tess knocked on the door briefly before letting herself in, and as the three of us discarded our shoes Taylor popped out from the kitchen, smiling at us brightly.

"I hope you're hungry," she said while slipping back over to the stove and Naruto grinning happily, flinging himself into chair at the dining table.

"Boy am I!"

Taylor giggled at her brother and Tess slowly made her way over to the table as well, situating herself in a seat across from the blonde. I, on the other hand, walked up beside Taylor, playfully resting my head on her shoulder.

"Need help with anything?" I questioned and the blonde instantly shook her head.

"Nope!" she responded, and then gently twisted away from me to reach for the plates on the counter beside the stove. "And beside, I'm not letting you help anyway! I'm supposed to be treating you three to dinner for training so hard over the past week!"

"Well thanks," Tess responded sincerely from her seat before smirking. "But training is actually turning out to be easier than we thought."

"Yep," I agreed when Taylor glanced around at us, eyebrows raised in surprise. "Naruto isn't having trouble keeping up with us at all – and we've adjusted to his fighting style as well."

The Uzumaki grinned and rubbed a finger under his nose. "You guys have the same fighting style as Sasuke and Sakura-chan after all."

"Well I'm glad to her everything is going so well!" Taylor responded cheerfully, smiling at us all. She then picked up two plates into her hands. "But you can tell me more about it over the meal – let's eat!"

Easily complying, I scooted over to the table and took a seat beside Tess. Taylor placed the plates in her hand in front of Tess and I and then quickly moved back over to the counter to grab Naruto's and her own, taking a seat beside the said blonde once everything was situated.

As the four of us started to dig into the meal I suddenly realized that a certain Uchiha had never showed up.

"Where's Itachi?" I questioned after chewing the food in my mouth, and Taylor glanced over at me, wide eyes blinking innocently.

"He, Kisame, and Sasuke went into town to check over the venues again and figure out which one they like the best," she explained with a small smile. "Though I'm guessing because they just left an hour ago that they'll be getting something to eat while there."

"Makes sense," Tess confirmed, shoving another fork full of food into her mouth. I rolled my eyes at the red head. It was easy to see why she and Hidan were the perfect match for each other.

"What have you been up to today then?" Naruto questioned his table manners even worse than Tess's. Taylor motioned over to a pile of colorful cards and white envelopes on a counter across the room.

"I've been making up the wedding invites today," she said and then set the utensil in her hand down. She snapped her fingers and then hugged Naruto briefly, to which he blushed at.

"Thanks for reminding me!" She said after a moment and looked around at all three of us, grinning sheepishly. "I was wondering if any of you would be able to help me out with distributing invites tomorrow…?"

"I will!" Naruto instantly volunteered, his hand flying into the air. Tess sighed and reached across the table, smacking him on the side of the face lightly. The blonde's blue eyes shifted over to her in surprise.

"Didn't you say that you were gonna take off this weekend with Jiraiya so he could help you perfect your jutsu's?" Tess questioned with a raised eyebrow, and the Uzumaki immediately cursed, smacking his own palm to his forehead.

"I completely forgot!" He exclaimed and apologetically looked over to Taylor. "Sorry nee-chan…"

"Don't worry about it!" The female replied nonchalantly. Beside me Tess furrowed her brow.

"You said you were planning to send them out tomorrow?" Tess asked in clarification, and Taylor nodded. Tess instantly frowned. "I'd help you but Hidan and I were planning to go out tomorrow…"

"Oh hell!" Taylor said seriously, waving her hand around. "Girl – that's way more important! You don't worry about it either!"

All three of us laughed at Taylor's response and Tess thanked her.

"Guess I'll be helping you then," I finally put in, and Taylor clapped her hands happily.

"You really sure you don't have anything going tomorrow?" She questioned, just to be sure, and I nodded.

"Nope! I'm pretty sure that Dei and Danna were gonna hangout and train tomorrow, so I'm sure they won't be disappointed if I don't tag along."

"Thank you!" Taylor exclaimed and hopped up from her seat, shuffling around the table to hug me. I just laughed her off and told her to finish her meal. And that's what we did.

Half an hour later, after clearing off our plates and chatting for a little while longer, Tess, Naruto and I said our goodbyes to Taylor and thanked her for the meal.

"What time should I come over tomorrow?" I questioned her as I stepped out onto the porch of the house, and Taylor placed a hand to her chin contemplatively.

"Noon?"

"Sounds good," I responded and sent her a final smile before heading down the front steps and starting towards my house. Tomorrow would be a busy day.

* * *

"Heading over to Taylor's?" Deidara questioned as I skipped past the family room and onto the landing. I nodded happily and slipped my shoes on.

The blonde, who had previously been lounging on the couch, heaved himself up and walked over to me. Wrapping his arms around my torso the blonde pressed his lips to the back of my head and I smiled lovingly, flipping around to face him.

"Give Danna my regards, will you?" I told him after kissing his lips, and the blonde nodded, hugging me once more.

"Yeah – have fun at Taylor's."

"We'll see," I responded, stepping out of the house. Deidara chuckled before shutting to door behind me. I immediately started towards Taylor and Itachi's house, glad that the fall air was starting to become warmer than it had been.

When I arrived at their house I found Itachi and Kisame sitting on the front porch, playing a round of shogi.

"I appreciate your helping of Taylor," Itachi said as I stepped up beside the two. "Thank you."

I rolled my eyes at the male and rustled his hair lovingly.

"We've been friends for 18 years," I said, stepping into the house. "Why the hell wouldn't I?"

Behind me I heard both Kisame and Itachi chuckle and rolled my eyes at the two, traveling further into the home. After a minute I found Taylor situated at the kitchen table, pen in hand as she scribbled words onto the last of her cards.

"Working hard?" I questioned, looking over her shoulder. Taylor blinked and looked up at me in surprise.

"Oh hey!" she said before looking back down at the table. "Take a seat – I'm just finishing up."

Nodding, I scooted around the table and took a seat across from the blonde, looking over the many sealed envelopes already stacked on one side of the table.

For a minute I just sat there and watched Taylor write the last of her cards. When she was finished Taylor took the cards and shoved them into envelopes, sealing the envelopes with her tongue before stacking the cards with all the others.

"Done!" The blonde exclaimed happily and I snorted a laugh.

"What's with the other smaller pile?" I questioned after a moment, pointing my hand at the midget stack placed next to the taller one.

"Oh," Taylor said, scooting the stack closer to her. "These are the ones that are going to other villages – I didn't want them to get all mixed in with the other ones."

"I get it," I nodded and Taylor furrowed her brow as she continued.

"I don't know how I'm gonna get them there though…"

I raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Just ask Itachi."

Taylor looked up at me, blinking in surprise.

"Itachi can spawn a shit ton of crows on will – I'm sure he wouldn't have trouble sending them to deliver the invites."

"You're a fucking genius," Taylor commented after letting the suggestion sink in, and I laughed, standing from my chair.

"I'm just smart," I clarified, shifting over to where the letters were. "Shikamaru is a genius."

Taylor looked concerned as I picked all the letters up. "Don't you need something to carry those in?"

I smirked and lifted the bottom of my coat up, revealing the hip pouch that was attached to the band of my pants.

"Nope," I responded and neatly placed all the small white envelopes inside. Taylor rolled her eyes at me and then stepped forward, arms out. I laughed slightly and stepped into her waiting arms.

"Thanks for helping out so much," she said, her voice muffled in my shoulder. I rolled my eyes and tapped my forehead against hers before pulling back.

"Anytime, love," I said, and then snatched the smaller stack off the table. "I'll let Itachi know too," I added in while heading towards the door and Taylor shouted thanks at me once again as I stepped back onto the front porch.

"These are for you," I told Itachi, handing him the smaller stack of cards, and the male raised a questioning eyebrow at me. "These are invites for whoever Taylor is inviting outside the leaf village – we were hoping you could use your crows to get them there faster."

"Of course," Itachi said immediately and stood. He brought his fingers to his lips and after a brief whistling sound two crows flew down and landed on the railing beside him.

"How the fuck does he do that?" I whispered to Kisame, leaning down beside him. The blue skinned man simply chuckled, shrugging his shoulders.

"If I knew I'd tell you."

Across the porch Itachi rolled his eyes at us and skillfully tied the two invites to the legs of either crow and within a moment the two took off into the sky.

"Well," I said and straighten up, placing my hand atop Kisame's head, which the man chuckled at. "I guess I better get going."

I started to stretch my limbs out, preparing to begin my journey throughout the village, when a thought suddenly popped into my mind.

"Oh by the way," I turned back towards the two and Itachi, who had reclaimed his seat beside the shogi board, looked up. "Did you guy's ever decide on a location?"

Itachi smiled slightly, dipping his head. "We did – we've decided just to have it at the chapel in the Uchiha district."

I blinked. "We have one of those?"

Kisame snickered at me. "I even knew that."

Laughing, I smacked him in the back of the head and Itachi raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Yes, the chapel is just up the road actually. Taylor and I agreed that it'd be nice because it's private, so we won't have to worry about random people stumbling upon the wedding."

"Makes sense," I replied and smiled at the two. Quickly I hugged Kisame and then ran over and hugged Itachi, jumping away afterwards.

"Bye!" I shouted behind me, and the two waved in return as I started spiriting over rooftops towards the main part of the village.

I was truthfully happy to hear that Taylor and Itachi had decided on a location. That was one of the biggest parts of planning for the wedding, so with that and already having the color scheme picked out and my delivering of the invitations, three things were out of the way. The only things that were left – as far as I knew – were to pick out the flowers, get Taylor a wedding dress, and plan the food venue. I'm sure that Itachi could handle getting a tux for himself.

Snapping back into reality, I reached a hand back into my hip pouch and pulled out the first invitation. I wasn't at all surprised to find "Naruto Uzumaki" written in Japanese on the front.

Rolling my eyes I bounded towards the blonde's house with his invite in my hand. After a minute I skillfully maneuvered over the railing in front of Naruto's apartment and knocked on the door. I could hear the Uzumaki shuffling around inside, and a moment later the door flung open.

"Were you sleeping?" I questioned amusedly as I took in his bare torso, colorful boxers and messy hair. The Uzumaki looked down at himself and froze, tired eyes widening.

"Uh…"

"Don't worry about it," I laughed and slapped the invite to his chest, making him stumble back in shock. "Here's your invite to the wedding," I continued and pushed him back through the doorway.

Naruto paused and held the envelope out in front of him, smiling once looking at his name on the front.

"Thanks!" he finally said, and I rolled my eyes at him.

"No problem, now stop promoting public nudity."

Immediately the blonde became flustered once again and squeaked a goodbye to me before shutting his door. I just ran a hand through my hair, laughing once again, and pulled another invite out of my hip pouch as I jumped away from Naruto's apartment building.

Next up, "Kakashi Hatake".

Smiling to myself I flipped off a wall and started in the adjacent direction, heading towards the silver haired ninja's apartment. I arrived in less than two minutes and hopped down onto his terrace, looking through the open blinds.

I could see some steam coming from the cracked open bathroom door and assumed he was either in the shower or smoking something I shouldn't know about…

Snickering at my own thoughts I quietly opened the glass pane and slipped inside.

"Sensei…," I called tentatively, cautiously stepping onto the carpet of his apartment. A second later the door to the bathroom creaked open and the top half of Kakashi's face peaked around the corner. He raised an eyebrow in question, silver hair dripping onto the floor, and I held up my free hand defensively, simply leaning over to place his invite on the bed.

"I'm just delivering your invite to the wedding," I said, looking back up to meet his gaze. "Didn't mean to disturb you."

"You're fine," he said and then his eyes creased in a smile. "Thanks."

"No problem," I responded and then walked back out onto his terrace. "See you later," I said before bounding to the building parallel to his.

The next envelope I pulled out was addressed to a certain dog-like teenager and I jumped towards his house, a grin on my face.

It was clear to everyone who was in our little group of friends that Kiba was one of my best buds. When I'd landed here in the Naruto world when I was 16 Kiba had saved me from smashing my face into the lake, and after recovering and being assigned Kakashi as a bodyguard Kiba had made sure to always check up and see how I was. Because of this, during the original time I spent in the Leaf Village Kiba and I had become pretty close. Of course, after I was picked up by Deidara and Sasori and had joined the Akatsuki a void had formed between my newly made friends in Konoha and myself, but the patch had been mended. With everything that happened in the last few months there was no longer a need for me (or any of the Akatsuki) to still be labeled as the enemy, and after a week or so I'd confronted Kakashi, Kiba and a couple others to see if we were cool. And as you can see, everything worked out fine.

Jumping down onto the porch of the Inuzuka house I rang to doorbell once and after a few seconds the door was pried open.

"Oh, if it isn't Lauren!" Tsume exclaimed, grinning down at me, and I waved two fingers at her.

"Hey there, Mrs. Inuzuka," I replied and a second later the female turned around and shouted into the house behind her.

"Kiba! Someone's here to see you!"

I quietly sweat dropped as the woman turned back to me and smiled once more before stepping out of the way. A couple seconds later I looked up at the sound of stomping coming closer and found Kiba heading down the hall.

"Oh, hey," he said, looking surprised to see me. However, after a second he grinned and leaned against the door frame. "What's up?"

I flipped his invite in-between my pointer and middle finger and then held it out to him. Kiba blinked in surprise and took the envelope from my hands, looking it over.

"It's your invitation to Taylor and Itachi's wedding," I said with a smirk and the Inuzuka's eyes instantly widened.

"Oh, I'd heard that they'd gotten engaged!" he exclaimed and met my eyes. "They're getting married so soon?"

I nodded. "Yeah – Taylor doesn't wanna be in the height of her pregnancy when they get married so they're rushing to get everything done."

"Well if they need any help I'm available," he grinned and I friendlily punched him in the shoulder.

"I'll be sure to tell them," I said, but before I could jump away there was a loud bark and I was tackled by a large dog.

"Hey there buddy!" I laughed as Akamaru happily ran his tongue across the side of my face, and beside us Kiba laughed.

"It's been a while since you've come to visit," the male snickered, petting his dog on the head. "Akamaru's missed you."

"Well, I've been training for the Chuunin exams and helping Taylor out so I've been busy," I said as Kiba backed the dog off of me, allowing me to stand up. "And speaking of helping Taylor out…"

Quickly I jumped away from the two and landed on the branch of a nearby tree.

"Oi!" Kiba called after me, and I stuck my tongue out at him playfully.

"I'll be back again soon to visit!" I assured him, waving a hand over my shoulder as I jumped away. "But I'm helping deliver invites right now!"

"Whatever!" Kiba called from in the distance and I snickered to myself.

Up next were the two Hyuuga cousin's so I bounded towards the Hyuuga estate. Luckily, the two were in the middle of the yard, harmlessly sparring, so I just hopped onto the grass surrounding the area silently. The two, thanks to that of their Byakugan, instantly noted me and paused in their sparring.

"Sorry for interrupting," I said as I approached the two and Hinata smiled reassuringly as Neji wiped his hand across his forehead.

"It's no big deal," he said. "What's up?"

I held out the invitations to the two and they both grabbed there's respectively. Hinata automatically brightened up at seeing the fancy design lining the envelope.

"This would be a wedding invite, would it?" she questioned happily, and I nodded.

"It is! I've been helping Taylor out by delivering them today."

"Well, we'll be sure to attend," Neji commented, a small smirk on his face as he glanced up at me, and I smiled in return. "Thank you for bringing these to us."

"No problem!" I replied and then jumped back onto the fence surrounding the area. "See you guys later!"

The two called goodbye back to me and I headed towards my next destination – the Yamanaka flower shop. To my luck, Ino was working the counter when I walked in and Sakura was there with her.

"Oh hey!" Sakura said at seeing me, and I waved at the two.

"I've got letters for you~," I hummed and dug through my hip pouch, finding the two letters addressed to the females. After handing the envelopes to the two Ino instantly perked up.

"Ah! Is this an invite to Taylor and Itachi-san's wedding?!"

"Yeah," I confirmed with a smile, and the blonde clapped her hands together.

"I'm so happy for them!" she cooed and Sakura and I laughed at her fangirl-like attitude. "Oh, and tell them that if they need flowers they can always come here!" Ino put in after a moment, smiling brightly. "I'd love to help them out if I could!"

I blinked in shock. "That would actually be great," I said, rubbing the back of my head. "Flowers is one thing we haven't picked out yet, so it'd be helpful if I could just tell Taylor to come here…"

"Of course!" Ino said, clapping her hands together. "I should be working for the rest of the week, so feel free to have Taylor come anytime!"

"Great!" I responded and then started towards the door of the shop. "See you guys later."

"See you!" They replied and I stepped back out into the fall air, pulling out the remainder of the invites in my pouch.

Sighing slightly, I knew where I'd find the next recipient and bounding across the rooftops of villages before stopping on a certain one. And just as I'd thought, Shikamaru was lounging on a bench with Chouji poised next to him, a bag of chips in his hand.

"Oh, hey Lauren!" Chouji greeted as I walked up to the two, and I raised my hand in reply.

"I've got letters for the both of you," I said as I held the respective letters out to the two. Shikamaru grinned while grabbing his hand rubbed the back of his head tiredly.

"Aw man, I'm gonna have to go and find a suit now."

"What I drag," I said, rolling my eyes playfully. The Nara simply rolled his back, Chouji snickering at the two of us.

Briefly the three of us all said goodbye to each other and I hopped towards my next destination. Just as I arrived in the school yard the bell rang and instantly numerous amounts of kids flooded from the building. Hurriedly I got out of the way and waited a minute before heading inside. When I arrived at Iruka's classroom the male was inside behind his desk, tidying up a stack of papers.

"Hey there, Iruka-sensei," I greeted, stepping into the room, and the tan shinobi instantly looked up at me.

"Oh, why hello there Lauren!" he said, instantly smiling at me. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Nope!" I replied, and then held his letter out to him. "But I am here to give you this."

Iruka blinked in surprise and then took the envelope from me, instantly tearing it open. He looked over the contents of the card briefly and then smiled.

"Wow, I'd heard they'd gotten engaged, but this is so soon!" he laughed, and I grinned along with him.

"That's Taylor for you," I replied, and the male grinned at me.

"Thanks for bringing this to me."

"No problem!" I replied, and then skipped out of the room only to pause a moment later, sticking my head back in.

"Umm…do you maybe know where Lee and Gai-sensei are? I just get this feeling they won't be home…"

Iruka blinked and then placed a hand to his chin contemplatively. "If I had to guess…I'd say that they were at the training fields…"

"Alright! Thanks!"

With that I jogged out of the building and sprinted towards the training fields. Thankfully Iruka's intuition was right and when I arrived I was happy to see not only Gai and Lee, but also Tenten along with them.

"Mou~," the female whined. "We've been here since noon – four hours ago! Don't you guys think you've trained enough for today?!"

"You can never train enough!" Lee replied enthusiastically and beside him Gai clenched his fist happily.

"That's the right attitude Lee!"

"Um…," I coughed after a moment, and the three instantly looked up at me.

"Oh, hello there Lauren!" Gai greeted, saluting me. "Is there something we can help you with?"

Sighing, I simply walked up to the three and handed them their invites.

"These are for you," I said with a small smile, and Tenten blinked.

"These look like invitation letters…"

I nodded. "They are."

"Of course! Taylor-chan and Itachi-san are getting married!" Lee cried passionately and I laughed at him slightly.

"Well, I just came to deliver these to you guys. Good luck with training."

"Thank you!" Gai responded, getting right back at it, and I rolled my eyes as I bounded back towards the main part of the village. At this point, I really only had a couple more to deliver. And thank Jesus when I got to the Hokage mansion I found Shino exiting it.

"This is for you," I said briefly, handing it to the male as I passed, and with a quiet thanks we both continued on our way. Once I was inside the building I shook my head at the Aburame. No offence – but he was kind of weird…

Anyway, I knocked on the door to Tsunade's office and once receiving permission to enter, stepped into the room.

"Oh, good afternoon, Lauren," Shizune greeted and I smiled at her.

"I've got invitations for you two," I said, walking up to the both of them, and they blinked in surprise.

"Is this for Itachi and Taylor's wedding?" Tsunade questioned after taking hers, and I nodded, causing her to sigh.

"Those two…"

I simply laughed. "Yep!"

"Well, thank you so much!" Shizune exclaimed, holding hers to her chest, and I laughed her off.

"No problem!" I replied heading back towards the door. "Now I just need to finish delivering these!"

The two bid me goodbye as I closed the door and around 3 minutes later I arrived at my second to final destination within the main confines of the village.

"Hey," I greeted as I approached the bearded male, and the man grinned at me, smoke exhaling from his mouth.

"Good evening, Lauren. What a surprise to see you here."

I laughed and held his invite out to him, stopping a foot from where he was lounging on the porch of his house.

"This is your invite to Taylor and Itachi's wedding," I explained, and Asuma blinked in surprise, taking it from me. "There's one for Kurenai-sensei too," I explained when he slipped the letters apart, revealing that there was actually two.

"Thanks," he said with a small smile, and I smiled back before jumping away with a swift goodbye. By this point in the day the sun was nearing the horizon and my stomach was beginning to feel empty, so I figured I'd deliver the last few swiftly.

And just as I expected, when I arrived at the hot spring I was greeted with the sight of Jiraiya peeking over the edge of the fence with his rickety telescope.

"I thought that you were supposed to be helping Naruto out today," I said to him, raising an eyebrow in question, and the white haired male simply heaved himself down from his perch, winking at me.

"Well, Naruto didn't show up when we planned, so I decided to come here instead!" he explained, and I instantly slapped a hand to my forehead, remembering how Naruto had been when I'd seen him earlier.

"Anyway…here," I said holding out the invite and the Sage took it from me quizzically.

"It's a wedding invitation," I explained and he instantly perked up.

"Oh! This is wonderful! Maybe this'll give me some ideas for my new book!"

I rolled my eyes at him, waving a hand over my shoulder as I walked away.

"Keep dreaming, old man."

Finally, with the final invitation delivered to those residing in the village I bounded back towards the Uchiha district. Now all that's left was to give invites to the rest of the Akatsuki.

First stop, Hidan and Tess's house.

I didn't even knock on the door when I arrived, instead just pulling the door open and stomping inside.

"DON'T BE HAVING SEX!" I screamed, stepping into the foyer, and to my surprise I found the two cuddled on the couch, a movie playing on the screen in front of them. However, there eyes were on me rather than the movie.

"Jesus Christ you bitch!" Hidan yelled at seeing me. "What the fuck is with that enterance?!"

"I'm fucking hungry!" I shouted at him, faking my attitude of a little brat, and tossed the two letters at them. "Take your damn invites!"

As Tess stood up to collect the two envelopes Hidan sprung up from the couch, pink eyes narrowed dangerously. I immediately knew to run.

"Come back here you bitch!" Hidan screamed after me and cackling I hopped back out into the fall air, jumping across the way to Kakuzu's house. I had just enough time to bang on the door before Hidan's arms wrapped around my torso hefting me up into the air. I struggled in his grasp, laughing, so the Jashinist quickly slapped a hand over my mouth. In response I simply licked his hand and the silver haired man dropped me in shock.

As I started to laugh Kakuzu opened his door and questionably raised an eyebrow at the two of us.

"Here," I said between my giggles, handing him the envelope addressed to him. "This is for you."

"Thanks," he replied monotonously, placing his hand atop my head. "Now get away from my house."

"Not at problem!" I said with a mock bow and then jogged past Hidan back down the path towards Danna house.

"I'll get you!" Hidan shouted after me, and I rolled my eyes at him.

"Whatever!"

A minute later I stepped up to Danna's house and knocked on the door before calmly letting myself in. To my surprise, the puppet master was in the kitchen preparing dinner for himself.

"Oh?" he questioned at seeing me. "Are you finally done delivering invites for Taylor?"

"You're my last one," I confirmed and held the letter out to him. He wiped his hands on a towel before turning around to take it from me.

"Thanks," he said and patted me on the head, smirking slightly. "Now run along home."

I rolled my eyes at him. "You can't tell me what to do."

Sasori just rolled his eyes back at me, crossing his arms. "And yet your actions contradict your words."

"Shut up!" I laughed at him and jogged through his front door, being sure to close it behind me. Happily sighing to myself at a job well done I jogged up the path once again, heading to Dei and I's house.

When I stepped inside I instantly sighed with relief, the day having tired me out. However, before I could get too comfy Deidara stepped out of the family room, hands in his pockets.

"Hey love. How'd it go?"

"Good," I replied and playfully slipped our own invite from my hip pouch, twirling it between my fingers. "We got our invite!"

Deidara laughed and stepped for, kissing my lips lightly.

"So…do you feel like cooking tonight, yeah?"

I blinked in surprise. "Not really…why?"

"Well," he said, and pulled my coat off the rack, swinging it over my shoulders. "Let's go out then."

Laughing, I secured my jacket around me while he did the same with his own, slipping his shoes on a moment later.

"Sounds good to me!"

* * *

**Yo! **

**I've had yesterday and today off because it was a planning day for the teachers, so this is what I've been working on!**

**Hmm...I don't really have much to say...Oh! Remember that essay I was talking about - the one I had to do for AP English? Well, I went and checked the grade book earlier and found that I got at 94.7% on it, which I'm happy about :D Right now I've got my grades up to 5 A's, and hopefully I can keep it that way considering there's only 3 weeks left in the trimester...but if I can't then I'm hoping to only end up with one B at most. I do only have a 90.1% in Pre-Calc, and math is my worst subject, so if it ends up going back down to a B+ I won't be too disappointed...  
**

**Plus, I figured out that even if I get 4.0 for the rest of this year and the first two trimesters of next year (senior year) then my GPA will still only go from a 3.6 to 3.72. So I'm not too worried about having absolutely perfect grades - as long as they're 3.6 or better.**

**Anyway...I don't really have anything else to say...everything I've been doing has pretty much been school oriented. I've been reconsidering the major I want to go into again, and after talking with my Sensei I've decided that I'd probably be better off being a translator, so EMU still looks like the best option because then have a "Japanese and International Trade Group Major", which is what I'd be going for. But then again, I'm getting ahead of myself with all this...**

**Oh well!  
**

**I'm gonna go take a shower now! XD See you guys later.**

**Please Review!**


	6. Chuunin Exams Begin

**Normal POV**

Lauren and Tess sat parallel to one another, shoulders leaning against each other for support as they starred at the closed white door in front of them. Chorusing a sigh, the two girls shared a glance before shifting their eyes back to the door.

Currently, Taylor was behind that door – hopefully figuring out which dress she liked – but they really didn't know.

Wedding dress shopping was the one occasion that nearly every female looked forward to when getting married, but at the same time many of those excited females, when finally walking into a store, become nervous and unsure – and this was the perfect way to describe how Taylor was feeling right now. The blonde had been cooped up in the changing room for nearly 20 minutes now, and not to mention they'd already been in the store for over 2 hours.

"Taylor," Lauren called lovingly, straightening herself up. "How are you? Why don't you come out and show us the dress you've got on?"

For a few seconds there was a silence between the three females but soon the changing room door opened and Taylor stepped out. Positioning herself on the small pedestal in front of the two the blonde straightened out the white fabric adorning her body and smiled at the two.

For Lauren and Tess, who had been friends with Taylor for nearly all their life for what they were concerned, could easily spot that Taylor wasn't happy with the dress.

"So, what do you think?" Lauren questioned, trying to evoke a comment out of her. Taylor glanced up at the ceiling contemplatively.

"Well…the dress hugs my figure and makes me look skinny…and the sweetheart neckline emphasizes the little boob I have to show…"

"But you're not happy," Tess finished for her, hunching forward in her chair with a knowing grin of sympathy. Taylor sighed.

"I just don't know what I want guys," she said and cupped her hands over her face. "I haven't found anything I really like yet and it's just frustrating."

Frowning, Lauren opened her mouth to speak, but Tess quickly cut in.

"Well, then think about it this way," the red head said leaning back into her seat. Taylor glanced over at her quizzically. "When you were little, what did you feel like you'd get married in?"

Taylor smile nostalgically.

"I guess back then I always saw myself in a dress with a poofy bottom and bejeweled bodice – a princess-like gown, you know?"

Suddenly, Tess placed her hands on her knees and heaved herself up from her chair. She took a step towards Taylor and placed a hand on her bare shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly.

"You head back into the changing room then, Lauren and I will find a dress more inclined towards what you want."

Blinking in surprise, Taylor simply allowed Tess to guide her back into the changing room, clicking the door shut behind her. Chuckling, Lauren stood from her own seat as Tess stepped away from the door. Without exchanging words the two ventured into the many racks and started sorting through dresses. It only took a minute before Tess heard Lauren call for her. Quickly the red head shuffled over to where the brunette was, a dress folded over her arm.

"I think this is it," Lauren exclaimed, holding it up. Tess instantly grinned at the sight, shaking her head slightly.

"Yep, that's it. We don't even need to find anymore."

Laughing, Lauren folded the dress back into her arms and the two made their way to the changing room. Knocking on the door Lauren called out to Taylor softly and a moment later the blonde poked her head out, brown eyes innocently wide.

"Try this one," Lauren said, handing her the dress with a smile. "We think you're gonna like it."

Taking the dress, Taylor nodded happily and then gently shut the door. Lauren simply headed back over to her chair, plopping down beside Tess. This time it only took Taylor a little over a minute to exit the changing rooms, and when she did Lauren felt her heart swell with happiness.

The blonde had her hands cupping her face, tears running down her cheeks as she stepped onto the pedestal once more.

"It's perfect," Taylor hiccupped, and Tess and Lauren shared a proud fist-bump before looking over the dress once more. Like Taylor had wanted, the dress was in typical ball gown/princess fashion, the bottom of the dress flaring out from the bodice, which lace climbed up around Taylor's chest and shrouded her shoulders. The same lace was adorned with embroidered flowers which flowed down the skirt and decorated the entirety of the gown.

"Well then," Lauren jumped up from her chair and grabbed a vale lying on a table nearby. Shuffling behind Taylor Lauren tenderly placed the clip of the vale into her hair and shrouded her in it, the white fabric falling all the way down to the floor.

"Goddammit," Taylor cursed, looking back at Lauren with a teary smile. "You're just trying to make me cry more aren't you?"

"Awww!" Lauren cooed and quickly engulfed Taylor in a hug. Tess joined them a moment later.

"Now," Tess said as they all released each other. "I think we've all been in this store long enough. So why don't we pay for this baby and head home before our men die of starvation?"

**Lauren's POV**

Laughing, Taylor skipped back into the dressing room to get changed. I simply placed a hand on my hip, turning to face Tess.

"I don't know about you, but Deidara can fend for himself in the cooking aspect of things."

Tess scoffed, crossing her arms. "Hidan's way of fending for himself is going out to eat. He tried to cook once and I came home to a black stove, so I've officially taken over the role of making meals."

I laughed. "Aren't you shit at cooking too though?"

"Hey!" Tess held her hands up defensively. "I'm getting better at it! Taylor's been giving me her recipes to try and all that."

"Their house is overpopulated with good cooks," I said, shaking my head. "Itachi could be a chef in his pastime and Taylor could too. Deidara and I can spilt up the meals we cook since we both are better at certain things, but Hidan is screwed if you're ever gone."

Tess chuckled, shaking her head. "At that point I bet he'll just start barging into your houses and demand food."

Laughing yet again, we waited for another minute before Taylor stepped out of the changing rooms, regular clothes back on her body and shielded dress folded in her arms.

"C'mon!" she said happily and started skipping towards the front of the store. With a smile Tess and I followed after her, patiently waiting as she made the transaction with the lady behind the counter. Once the dress was paid for the woman bid us a good night and we replied the same.

"Ahh~ it's finally a bit warmer out!" Taylor hummed as the three of us started back towards the Uchiha district. I nodded in agreement, the last week the weather had been getting warmer, and it was a nice change.

"Yeah, but if the weather her is getting warmer it makes me wonder what Suna's gonna be like," Tess grumbled. Taylor blinked.

"Oh yeah! You guys are taking off tomorrow morning right?"

I nodded. "Yep, I think we're meeting at the gates around ten and taking off, that we we'll make it to Suna by the night after 'cuz the exams start the next day."

Taylor smiled widely, pumping her fist into the air.

"Well good luck you guys! Make it to the finals so I can be there to support all of you!"

"That's right," Tess snapped her fingers and glanced past me over to the blonde. "You guys are all coming out to Suna to watch the final round right?"

Taylor nodded happily. "Yep! I think Itachi said that we'd be leaving three days after you guys, that way we'll get to Suna the night before the final round."

I nodded in understanding.

A couple minutes later the three of us all passed through the gates of the Uchiha district and approached the cross roads of our homes.

"I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow then," I said, smiling at the two, and they dipped their hands in agreement. However, before any of us could take a step in any direction Taylor blurted out.

"Oh, Lauren!" she grinned sheepishly and held the dress in her arms out to me. "Do you think that you could hold onto this for me? I don't want to risk Itachi seeing it, and Tess…no offense."

The red head scoffed. "None taken! I wouldn't trust a dress in my house either."

Giggling at that, I simply nodded my head to Taylor in acceptance, and she happily placed the bundle in my arms.

"See you guys in the morning!" she said, suddenly skipping back up the path towards her and Itachi's house. Tess and I both waved back at her, and the red head placed a hand on my shoulder before turning down the adjacent path.

"See you in the morning," she said.

"Bye!" I called after her and then sighed happily, turning on my heel and heading up the steps behind me.

"Tadaima!" I drawled while stepping through the front door, being sure to slip my shoes off on the mat.

"Okaeri!" Dei replied after a moment and shuffled out of the kitchen, flipping a towel over his shoulder. I laughed at the sight and stepped up onto the wooden flooring of the hallway, sliding over to him.

"Are you cooking again?" I question and licked my thumb, reaching up to wipe a smudge of sauce off his face. Deidara grinned sheepishly.

"Well, I was gonna try and make spaghetti, but now that you're home…you wanna do it, yeah?"

Laughing, I nodded.

"Sure, spaghetti is something I'm good at anyway. Though I've gotta go put this away first…"

Scooting around Deidara, I started towards the stairs, but before I could get too far he grabbed my wrist and twirled me back into his chest.

"What's that, a wedding dress, yeah?" He raised his eyebrows teasingly. "Are you getting married without me?"

"Oh, stop," I said and placed my hand on his chest pushing him away. Deidara laughed.

"So Taylor found a dress then?"

"Yep!" I replied happily and jogged up the stairs. Quickly I threw open Dei and I's closet, pushing all the clothes on one end aside and putting Taylors dress in their place. With that taken care of, I headed back downstairs and stepped into the kitchen. Deidara was at the stove, stirring what looked like a pan of tomato sauce. Quietly I snuck up to his side, peering over at the pan with interest. However, just as I was about to ask if he wanted me to take over the cooking Deidara dipped his finger into the red sauce and before I could react, smacked it onto my lips.

"I think you've got something on your face yeah," he grinned and as I stood there in shock leaned down and licked his tongue against my lips, smashing his own against mine a moment later. Swooning in the heat of the kiss, it became apparent by Deidara's wandering hands that this wasn't just one of those "yeah, I love you" quick little pecks.

"But, Dei, dinner," I said finally, when we broke away for air. Without a second thought the blonde turned around and twisted all the burner dials to off before turning back to me. I squealed in surprise as he lifted me into his arms, burying his face into my neck briefly as he headed towards the stairs.

"You'll surely suffice as my meal tonight, yeah," Deidara grinned as she ascended the stairs, and I didn't argue. I was completely fine with that.

* * *

The next morning I woke just as the sun started to appear over the horizon. Yawning, I decided that it was time to get out of bed and threw the covers off my body, the coldness of the rest of the room immediately hitting my bare skin.

Shivering slightly I quickly tip-toed over to the dresser and slipped on one of Deidara's shirts and a pair of my own sweatpants. Now contently dressed, I glanced back at said blonde and smiled at his still peacefully sleeping face. However, the moment was interrupted when my stomach called out angrily.

"Oh shut up," I hissed and stepped out of the room, heading down to the kitchen. Having been robbed of a dinner last night, my stomach was pissed at being neglected.

Sighing to myself, I opened the door of the fridge and peered around the white box inside. Catching sight of the half-empty egg carton I decided that we'd be having scrambled eggs for breakfast and got to work pulling out pans, bread, and butter. Of course, 15 minutes later, just as I was plating the food, Deidara groggily wandered into the kitchen.

"Morning," he yawned, kissing my forehead as I walked past, and I rolled my eyes at him lovingly. Together the two of us at breakfast and then cleaned up. Following that I headed upstairs to take a shower. After becoming clean I walked out into the bedroom and got my regular ninja outfit on. When I was clothed I headed downstairs and into the backyard, heading over to the weapons shed where Deidara was already crouched.

"Checklist?" he questioned and I nodded in understanding, stepping past him into the shed.

"Kunai," he said, and I flipped a bundle into my pouch.

"Check."

"Shuriken?"

"Check."

"Senbon?"

"Check."

"Katana?"

I flipped the scroll containing the sword of the wall and quickly summoned it, slipping the sheath of the blade under my belt.

"Check."

Deidara stood, placing a hand on his hip. "I think you're good then, yeah."

I smiled widely at him. "Yeah, I think I am. Thanks!"

The blonde smirked happily and pecked my lips, taking my hand in his.

"You wanna head to the gate now then?"

"Un!"

Together the two of us traveled back into the house and just as we stepped onto the landing to slip our shoes on the front door slid open. Sasori raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"I was wondering where you two were – you know I hate to be kept wait."

"Yeah, yeah," I said, waving my hand at his comment. Deidara simply snickered and Sasori shuffled out of the way, allowing us to step out beside him. The three of us headed down the front steps of the house and where about to start towards the gate when I noticedd Tess coming down the path from the corner of my eye.

"Yo!" she greeted as she, Hidan, and Kakuzu approached. I smiled at her.

"C'mon, let's get going."

Together the six of us all exited the Uchiha district and walked to the gates of the Leaf Village. When we approached the gates Naruto was already there, flanked by Sakura, Sasuke, Kakashi, Iruka, Taylor, Itachi, and Kisame.

"Not fair!" I said as we walked up to him, making him blink in surprise. "You can't have a bigger possy than me!"

Naruto grinned, laughing. However, before he could say anything a bunch of shadows jumped around us and I looked over to find the remainder of the Konoha 12 standing there.

"Well, with me your posies are even," Kiba said, stepping over to me. I punched him in the shoulder in reply.

"What are you all doing here?" Naruto questioned the group with wide blue eyes, and Hinata smiled shyly.

"W-We're all here to support you, Naruto-kun!"

"That's right!" Lee agreed, pumping his fist into the air. "Lauren-san, Tess-san, Naruto-kun we are all here to wish you luck at the Chuunin exams!"

"So kick some ass!" Ino added in, and we all laughed.

"Well thanks guys," I said sheepishly as Tess, Naruto and I gather in the middle, waving our hands in goodbye. "We'll definitely make it to the final round so you can see us all fight!"

"I look forward to it," Neji said with a dip of his head, and dishing out some final goodbyes the three of us all stepped outside the gates and started down the path, on our way to Suna.

* * *

The next day we arrived in outside of Suna just as the evening was beginning to set in. As the three of us approached the large wall surrounding the village a guard stopped us.

"Are you here for the Chuunin Exams?" he questioned, and the three of us nodded in confirmation.

"Uchiha Niji, Haruno Bara, and Uzumaki Naruto," I said, and the man scanned down the list of participants in his hand.

"Here you are, go on ahead."

Nodding in thanks, the three of us walked past the guard into the village. Immediately we were escorted to a hotel by one of the sand shinobi helping to facilitate the exams.

"Wow! This place is super nice!" Naruto exclaimed as we entered our hotel room. The blonde instantly ran across the floor and soared onto one of the two beds, sighing contently. I laughed at him while Tess rolled her eyes, a smirk on her lips as she poised a hand on her hip, looking around the rest of the room.

"This is a nice room though," she agreed and I glanced over at her.

"Think it's because Gaara likes you more than other people?"

Tess laughed. "Hell no – Gaara wouldn't give us a nicer room just because he knows us. Besides, he probably doesn't even handle this aspect of exam planning anyway – the only thing he has to do is show up during the final round and sit there and look pretty."

I snickered. "I know, I was just teasing you."

Smiling, I headed over to the other bed and flopped down onto the mattress, sighing in relaxation.

"Yep, I could get used to this."

However, as one knows, we were in Suna for the Chuunin exams, so after that one night of relaxation the first day was upon us.

Tess, Naruto and I woke up to an announcement over the intercom of the hotel.

"_**All participants in this year's Chuunin exams must report to the test taking area by 9 o'clock. All participants in this year's Chuunin exams must report to the test taking area by 9 o'clock."**_

Yawning, I pushed myself off the mattress and groggily looked over at Tess and Naruto. The red head sleeping beside me grumbled angrily, not one liking to be woken up earlier in the morning. Naruto would usually react in the same way, knowing him, but because this was the first day of the Chuunin exams and his first shot at becoming a Chuunin since way back when he battled Neji the blonde sprung up from his bed energetically.

"Yoshi! Let's do this!"

Tess sat up and grabbed her pillow, chucking it at him.

"Jesus, you're so loud…"

Naruto just laughed nervously and I rolled my eyes, glancing over at the clock between our two beds.

**7:45 AM**

"Alright, come on guys, let's get ready."

Nodding in agreement Naruto headed over to the small bag he had brought along and pulled out his regular orange and black jumpsuit.

"Let me know when you guys are done!" He said with a smile and stepped into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

"C'mon," I said and gently smacked Tess in the shoulder as I heaved myself out of bed, walking over to where my own outfit was laying. The red head only sighed this time around and complied, throwing the covers off her body as she placed her feet on the ground, gathering her own clothes.

It only took me a minute to put on my clothes, so when I turned around I was surprised to find Tess standing there pulling on a white vest, one of the breast plates of the vest branded with Hidan's Jashinism mark and the other with the symbol of the Haruno family. Internally rolling my eyes I simply watched as she grabbed a red sash and tied it around her waist, the remainder of the ribbon falling loosely behind her back.

"Get a new outfit?" I finally questioned, and Tess looked up in surprise before smirking.

"Yeah, I was getting tired of the red so I went and bought a white vest and this combat skirt," she said, looking down at the black skirt around her hips. "However, I then noticed when I got home that this is pretty much the same outfit Sakura has," Tess continued and I snickered, that honestly having been my original thought at seeing it. "So I found this red ribbon and decided I'd use it as a sash."

"You've got different shoes too," I commented, looking down at Tess's shorter length boots. "And your thighs and calves are wrapped in tape where as Sakura's are covered in leggings and shin pads."

Tess chuckled, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, I guess it's just kind of funny that I picked the same style of outfit as her though, considering that our taste in color are complete opposites."

I laughed along with her but paused the bathroom door peaked open precariously.

"Umm, can I come out now?" Naruto squeaked innocently and I blinked in surprise.

"Yeah! Sorry Naruto…"

Grinning, the blonde simply skipped back into the room and together the three of us all secured our weapons to our hips and legs before exiting the room.

According to the woman who had escorted us to the hotel yesterday, breakfast would be served in the main lobby every day, so that's where we went. And like she said, when we arrived there were tables of food spread out everywhere, and ninja from all of the different villages sitting around eating.

Getting our own plates Naruto, Tess and I grabbed whatever kind of food we wanted before wandering around, trying to find a table. Thankfully a certain brown haired genin was here along with his team, and at seeing us, happily invited us over.

"Naruto-nii, Lauren-nee, Tess-chan over here!"

"Ah! Konohamaru!" Naruto exclaimed and jogged over to the table, grinning at the third Hokage's grandson. "I didn't know you'd be here!"

"Yep!" The tween confirmed proudly, and I took a moment to wave at Moegi and Udon. The two smiled and waved back.

After Naruto and Konohamaru conversed for another minute the six of us all ate together and then when done, walked over to the testing area. Before we could go inside the building however, we were stopped by the exam facilitators.

"Lord Gaara will now explain how the exams will proceed!" One of them announced, and a moment later Gaara stepped out of the building, looking around at all the participants.

"I commend you all for participating in this year's Chuunin exams," the Kazekage spoke. "However, you should know that these exams are meant to test the strength of you genin to see if you're worthy of becoming someone of higher rank. With this being said, after I am done speaking you will all go inside and take the written portion of the exam. Those who pass this stage then will be escorted to the next destination, and have the rules explained. If enough people make it past the second challenge then we will hold an elimination round, where the number of contestants will be cut in half, and the day after the elimination round will be the main event, where people from all over the world come to see the final contestants battle it out. It is in this stage where the committee will decide whether you are worthy of becoming a Chuunin or not."

After his long explanation Gaara paused for a moment and then dipped his head before walking out of the way, his final words being, "good luck to you all."

Once the Kazekage was out of sight the exam facilitators all started yelling at us all again, saying that the written test would now commence, so find the classroom assigned to you so it could begin.

The six of us all hung back for a moment as the rest of the teams looked at the list of assigned classrooms, and once the genin all started to head inside stepped up to find our own.

"Looks like we're in classroom 1," Tess said, her finger scanning the paper. Konohamaru squinted, looking for his own name.

"Our teams in classroom 3!" he declared, and Naruto ruffled his hair briefly.

"Good luck you guys! I wanna see you in the final round!"

"Un!" The three agreed and then ran inside in search of their testing room. As we entered the building after them Naruto threw his hands behind his head, looking smug.

"This is gonna be a piece of cake!" he declared, and I frowned at him.

"You know, Naruto. The exams are different in each village. So in Suna the only way you might pass the test is if you get a certain number right, you know?"

As soon as I said that Naruto's face filled with dread, and I hurried patted his shoulder reassuringly.

"I'm sure we'll all do fine!" I said, though on the inside I was worrying a bit myself. It was a terrible thought to realize that we could very well fail the first stage. It was clear that all three of us were strong when it came to the fighting aspect of being a shinobi, but knowing the correct answer to a written test…?

After a minute the three of us all enter the classroom and more facilitators escorted us to sheets on complete opposite ends of the room. When everyone was gathered, the man at the head of the class explained that we'd have 25 minutes to complete the test, and with that one instruction the first stage of the Chuunin exams began.

I looked down at the packet of paper in front of me and started reading over the questions. A few of them I could answer without problem, but for a couple others I was just pulling a blank.

Sighing, I lightly tapped my pencil against the table and glanced up. To my surprise, I found numerous brown eyes hovering close to the ceiling, glancing down at all of us below. It was in that instance that I realized what the purpose of the written test was.

Unlike in Konoha, where the objective of the written exam was to see how sneaky genin were and if they could get away with cheating without being caught, Suna's purpose was to test integrity – to see who would actually take the exam without going to cheating as their first choice.

With realizing this, I shifted my eyes to look over at Naruto and Tess, to see what they were doing, but before I could turn my head too far one of Gaara's eyes floated down and caused me to stop. The eye turned from the left to the right briefly, like someone shaking their head no, and I instantly realized that Gaara was trying to help me out, saying not to look over and worry about it, because if I did the proctors would think I was looking over to cheat.

Instantly I turned my head back to my own paper and flipped my pencil around, answering the questions the best I could. And a little while later a timer in the front of the class went off. Sighing, all of the genin threw their pencils down and a few started to converse friendlily when the man in the front of the classroom coughed loudly.

"I will now announce the teams that did not pass the first round!"

Immediately the room fell silent, everyone tensing in their seats.

As the man started to name off teams that hadn't passed, those teams exiting the room dejectedly, I felt my chest tighten with worry. What if Naruto or Tess hadn't realized the true purpose of the test and cheated? What if we failed the first round?

However, a moment later I was broken out of my dreadful thoughts by the same man who was telling people to leave as he was giving congratulations, saying that everyone remaining had passed the first round.

Sighing with relief I stood from my seat and walked over to Tess, placing my forehead on her shoulder. She laughed.

"You seem a bit stressed."

"I thought we were gonna fail!" I said, standing back up straight, and Tess rolled her eyes.

"Hell no, I noticed Gaara's eyes almost instantly," she said and crossed her arms. "Besides that, Tsunade would've beat me shitless if I'd known any less than what was on the test."

Before I could laugh at that last statement Naruto jogged up to us, blue eyes wide.

"Wait, Gaara had his sand eyes in here?" he said and started whipping his head around.

I smirked. "Yeah, he was keeping an eye on everyone taking the test. The objective this year wasn't to not get caught cheating, but rather to not cheat at all."

The Uzumaki blinked in surprise before grinning.

"It's good I didn't know any of the answers then!"

I blinked. "Are you serious?"

He nodded, and Tess rolled her eyes.

"It worked the first time, so why not now?!" he exclaimed, and I allowed myself to snicker at that. Same old Naruto.

With the test finished with the three of us all headed outside and followed the rest of the participants to where ever it was they were being lead. After a few minute the remaining genin had all gathered right on the edge of the dessert.

"Alright, to those of you that have made it to the second stage, I will now explain the second part of the exam!" The head Jonin exclaimed and the crowed hushed.

"The dessert in front of me will be the second stage of the exam!" He shouted, motioning to the sandy wasteland behind him. "On the opposite end of this dessert there are 12 scrolls! Right now it is noon -you will all have 24 hours to make it to the other end of the dessert, pick up a scroll, and make it back! If you return without a scroll you fail, and if you don't return within the time limit, even if you do have a scroll, then you fail! Fighting is allowed and all three team members must be accounted for when returning in order for a win to count! Oh, and this dessert is filled with many monsters, hence the fencing around it, so I warn that you take heed while crossing it. Is this clear?"

"Hai!"

"Well then," the man pulled a starting gun from his hip pouch and pointed it towards the sky, pulling the trigger a moment later. "Go!"

Instantly teams flooded out into the dessert. I quickly grabbed Naruto and Tess and pulled them in a different direction.

"Why are we heading this way?" Naruto asked as the three of us started sprinting over the sand.

"The scrolls are on the opposite end of the dessert, right? The shortest way there would be just to cut across, but with all the other teams headed that direction—" I paused and glanced over to where the other genin were, blades already clashing, "—we'd be safer taking a path a little out of the way. Plus the guy said that the dessert was filled with monsters, so if I had to guess I'd say that most of those monster were positioned directly along the way…"

Naruto nodded in understanding.

"I get it! Nice plan Lauren!"

"Thanks," I responded and looked back forwards as the three of us continued to travel farther away from the commotion of the other genin. "Now let's go and get that scroll."

* * *

**Hola! I get the feeling that this AN is going to be very short because I don't have very much to say.**

**Anyway, first off, I've got a new outtakes story! If you didn't already know about it, then you should go and take a look at it! It's basically going to be a collection of stories from either "Ugh, Why Me", "Well, It's Not So Bad", and "Alright, This Is Great" that didn't make it into the actual plot. So yeah, go check it out!**

**Also, just a forewarning, I'm not sure if I'll be updating any time this week or next weekend. We've got finals starting this week and into the Monday and Tuesday of next week, and right now I've still got 5 A's I'm trying to manage, so if I really want to keep all five I'll truthfully have to study.**

**Oh yeah, and we had a math test Friday. I got really pissed at the end because I just couldn't figure out the damn story problem so I literally just handed the test to my teacher and said "I quit". I was really upset for like the next two hours because I've got a 90.5% in that class, and I at least want to keep the A for as long as I can, but when I checked the grades I GOT A 91 ON THE TEST WHICH MEANS ALMOST EVERYTHING ELSE I DID WAS PERFECT DESPITE BOMBING THE LAST QUESTION. OMG I'M STILL HAPPY.**

***cough* Anyway, I'm gonna go eat a very late lunch and then figure out what homework I've yet to finish...**

**Bye!  
**

**Please Review!**


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